Tieng Viet lovers club [Archive] - Page 54 - The Asian Commercial Sex Scene

jackbl

12-09-2013, 12:04 PM

HANOI: Singapore and Vietnam on Wednesday strengthened bilateral ties with the elevation of relations between the two countries to a strategic partnership.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung announced this after their hour-long discussion in Hanoi.

Mr Lee’s official visit to Vietnam to mark 40 years of close ties kicked off with a tri-service guard of honour and a recital of both countries’ national anthems.
Under the wide-ranging strategic partnership, Singapore and Vietnam will enhance cooperation in several areas through high-level exchanges and direct communications between the leaders.

The strategic partnership also looks to explore ways to enhance economic cooperation between both countries, such as creating a favourable investment climate for companies from both sides to invest in each other's countries.

Singapore is currently Vietnam's second largest investor.

The two countries also recognised the benefits accruing from strengthened air links as Mr Lee saw air services as another sector that can contribute to growth between Singapore and Vietnam.

He said: "We envisage progress in air services where we can increase air traffic between our countries and also from our countries to the rest of the world."

Mr Lee also said Singapore banks hope to set up subsidiaries in Vietnam and contribute to the country's financial sector.

He added that Singapore is also happy to provide technical assistance to Vietnamese officials in the area of financial services.

“In financial services, Singapore will be happy to provide technical assistance to our Vietnamese counterparts while Singapore banks hope to set up subsidiaries here and contribute to Vietnam's financial sector," said Mr Lee.

Mr Dung said he welcomed Singapore banks to expand operations in his country.

Mr Lee said he is pleased with the current state of cooperation between the two countries and that economic ties are robust.

Bilateral trade and investments are growing steadily and the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Parks are thriving.

Mr Lee said he is glad that they have contributed to Vietnam's development.

On ASEAN, both leaders supported a cohesive and integrated ten-member grouping which enjoys good relations with external partners.

Singapore and Vietnam share an interest in a stable and peaceful Southeast Asia.

The priority is to work with the other member states to ensure freedom of navigation, maritime security and safety in the region, including in the South China Sea.

Mr Lee said: "We believe that freedom of navigation is absolutely essential and that has to be preserved whatever the outcome of the discussions and deliberations on the issue of the South China Sea.

"We believe that full implementation of the DOC (Declaration on Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea) and at the same time negotiations to conclude a Code of Conduct are essential to managing this problem in the foreseeable future.

“We believe that ASEAN has an important role to play in this respect because this is something happening in ASEAN's neighbourhood. And to be an effective organisation, ASEAN must be able to exert a constructive influence in the management of such disputes."

Moving forward, both countries have tasked their Ministries of Foreign Affairs to be the focal points to implement the agreement and to review the partnership periodically.

To commemorate 40 years of close ties, both countries jointly issued a stamp.

The theme selected for the stamp is "Junglefowl" – Singapore was represented by the red junglefowl and Vietnam by the grey peacock pheasant.

Both species of junglefowl are significant to the respective countries.

- CNA

jackbl

13-09-2013, 01:01 AM

Learn Vietnamese - How to Introduce Yourself in Vietnamese
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jackbl

13-09-2013, 01:01 AM

For intermediate learner:

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Talking About Your Daily Routine in Vietnamese

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG5DSW0k-YQ&list=PL8A0A817710A95636

jackbl

14-09-2013, 12:02 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Learning Vietnamese Farm Animals Has Never Been More Fun!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ25M2XpJnM

jackbl

15-09-2013, 01:59 AM

The richest entertainers in Vietnam
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VietNamNet Bridge - Truong Ngoc Anh, Le Quyen, My Tam, Dam Vinh Hung, Tang Thanh Ha are on the list of Vietnamese artists who own large assets.

This is not an official ranking because the assets of Vietnamese artists is a sensitive topic. No one wants to be considered bragging. These people are considered rich based on four factors: the personal income tax they pay every year, the pay for their shows, their own business and their fixed assets (publicly).

Actress Truong Ngoc Anh is rich not by the pay for her cast, but income from her business and advertising contracts. In 2013, she is the brand ambassador of Oriflame cosmetics, with remuneration of hundreds of thousands of dollars. She also attended a lot of events, with remuneration of about $5,000/event and other advertising activities.

Truong Ngoc Anh's largest income comes from real estate and restaurants. She has a lot of land in the prime location in Ho Chi Minh City and many villas, condominiums.

Singer My Tam is the leading voice in the market. She earned up to $20,000/show. My Tam is the owner of a big building on Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Road, which has become a fashion center and a café, run by the singer. This is the long-term strategy of My Tam besides singing career. My Tam is also said to have a lot of land.

Singer Dam Vinh Hung owns a villa worth tens of million USD in District 10, a pent-house in District 7 and many other real estate projects. With towering remuneration and a lot of shows, Dam Vinh Hung’s yearly income is estimated at at least VND100 billion ($5 million).

Also, with the ambition to become a powerful gentleman of the showbiz, Dam Vinh Hung has learned from Chinese star Andy Lau to constantly expand business, such as selling noodles, porridge and even frozen fish.

Actress Tang Thanh Ha has advertising contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and owns a number of properties. Currently, she and her husband live in large villa in District 2. Her husband runs a distribution company of about 20 top fashion brands in the world. Ha is also the director of Matchbox Company, an agency of the IPP Group (a conglomerate of the family of Tang Thanh Ha’s husband), in charge of holding events and advertising.

Singer My Le’s major income does not pay from remuneration but from business. Currently, her family lives in a large house on several thousand square meters in Tan Binh District, Ho Chi Minh City. It is also the headquarters of her husband’s company, with more than 1,000 employees. In addition to great property and real estate, My Le and her husband own several super-cars.

The couple Cam Van and Khac Trieu earns their income from a system of music bars in HCM City. They also have a lot of land.

Singer Thu Minh has become a “queen” after marrying to a foreign billionaire. The couple lives in a rent apartment in the building Kumho in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, at a rent rate of about $10,000 per month.

Singer Le Quyen has high remuneration and she is also the owner of a famous music bar in Saigon – Khong Ten.

Singer Cam Ly and her husband – musician Minh Vy own the Kim Loi Record Company and do business in other fields. They are known for sustainable richness.

jackbl

15-09-2013, 02:15 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - VietnamesePod101 Will Help Keep You Afloat with Marine Vocabulary!
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jackbl

16-09-2013, 02:31 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Vietnamese Vocabulary for Insects Doesn't Have to Bug You Any Longer!
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jackbl

17-09-2013, 01:01 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - How to Talk About Safari Animals in Vietnamese
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jackbl

18-09-2013, 12:12 PM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - This Vietnamese Lesson is NOT Just for the Birds!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mej0aYinOk

jackbl

19-09-2013, 01:48 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - This Vietnamese Lesson Proves That Curiosity Doesn't Kill the Cat!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJJOOShQXb0

uncle ho

19-09-2013, 06:02 PM

Good to come here learn Vietnamese.

jackbl

20-09-2013, 12:33 AM

Good to come here learn Vietnamese.

You are vietnamese so u come here to teach :D

jackbl

20-09-2013, 12:35 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - If This Vietnamese Video Lesson Makes You Feel Froggy, Then JUMP!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESGA-A60kFw

jackbl

20-09-2013, 01:03 AM

No more free rides for foreigners in Vietnam
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Two foreigners being pulled over by the traffic police on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in the popular tourist destination of Mui Ne. The recent ban in tourist areas on renting motorbikes to foreigners without local driver’s licenses has renewed the call to make it easier for them to drive legally. PHOTO: QUE HA

As several provinces have banned renting motorbikes to foreigners without local driver’s licenses, people are once again calling on Vietnam to make it easier for them to drive legally

During his two-week stay in Nha Trang last November, Gololobov Andrey wanted to travel around the coastal town by motorbike.

Despite not having a Vietnamese driver’s license, the 42-year-old Russian tourist had no problem renting a motorbike.

But Andrey died when he lost control of the bike and collided with a wall on Tran Phu Street after crashing into the plastic stools outside a café. Witnesses said he was traveling at around a hundred kilometers an hour – double the speed limit.

Following a rash of accidents involving foreigners nationwide, authorities in Khanh Hoa Province (home to Nha Trang) have forbidden local shops from renting motorbikes to foreigners without Vietnamese driver’s licenses.

The decision was made following a recent directive handed down by the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT).

Meanwhile, the traffic police in several tourist areas like Mui Ne and Phu Quoc Island too are cracking down on foreign drivers.

The move aims to protect foreigners in Vietnam, where roughly 30 people die from traffic accidents every day.

In the first half of this year, more than 5,500 traffic accidents nationwide killed 4,913 people and injured 3,465 others, an increase of 193 cases and 255 fatalities over last year.

Enforcing the Traffic Law for foreign drivers, however, is controversial, with experts and insiders concerned that it will negatively impact tourism and frustrate the expat community, which has long been critical of how difficult it is to obtain a Vietnamese driver’s license.

According to the VNAT directive issued on August 21, foreign tourists renting motorbikes has become more common, and the demand has created a bustling market of motorbike rental shops in tourist destinations and big cities.

“Hiring a motorbike is considered an adventurous and interesting way to tour the country, but driving amid Vietnam’s complicated traffic poses serious risks,” according to the directive.

At a recent consular meeting in Moscow on July 9, Russian representatives urged their Vietnamese counterparts not to let Russian tourists rent motorbikes if they do not have local driver’s licenses.

Foreign privilege

Typically, traffic police in Vietnam are reluctant to pull over foreigners due to language barriers, allowing many violators to get away scot-free.

Captain Truong Quang Phuoc of Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc District said the number of foreigners violating the Traffic Law and causing accidents is on the rise of late.

“The most common violation is drinking and driving. Other violations include not wearing a helmet and carrying too many passengers,” he said.

Alex, a British expat living in HCMC, explained what happened when he was pulled over: “When I got off the bike, the police officer saw that I was a foreigner and told me to continue.”

In many cases, foreign drivers found to be at fault in fatal accidents receive far more lenient punishment than locals.

Taiwanese expat Chen Chang Hao was convicted of “violating regulations on controlling road means of transport” for driving on the wrong side of the road and crashing into a local man in Binh Duong Province, killing him, in May 2012.

Hao was eligible to receive up to three years in prison, in addition to paying a fine of up to VND50 million. However, on August 14, the HCMC People’s Court decided to fine him just VND30 million (US$1,410), sparing him jail time or even probation.

In 2011, the same court expelled Makhov Vladimir Vladimirovich from Vietnam for traffic violations that caused the death of a local man.

The court said Vladimirovich was taking his wife from the Thuy Si Resort in Phan Thiet Town in the central province of Binh Thuan to Mui Ne Town by car, although he did not have a Vietnamese driver’s license. On his way, he crashed into a street vendor, who later succumbed to critical injuries.

Tough talk

Although there are no official nationwide statistics, several localities have reported an increase in traffic accidents caused by foreigners. They had already taken measures to tackle the issue before the recent VNAT directive.

In May, Binh Thuan authorities promised to clamp down on shops that rent motorbikes to foreigners without driver’s licenses following 20 road accidents involving tourists in Mui Ne during the previous three months.

Lieutenant Colonel Dang Tran Duong, chief of Phan Thiet’s traffic police, said the increasing number of foreign tourists driving on local roads constitutes a threat to public safety.

At a meeting on traffic safety in August, Bui Tuyet Minh, director of Kien Giang Police Department also warned about the increase of foreigners driving recklessly on Phu Quoc Island, which is a UNESCO-recognized World Biosphere Reserve and one of Vietnam’s most popular tourist destinations.

“Local authorities in Phu Quoc will not hesitate to pull over foreign drivers in order to avoid regretful cases,” she said, adding that common violations include driving in the wrong lane and drunk driving.

Unfeasible requirements

Meanwhile, many people said that in addition to cracking down on foreigners without driver’s licenses and the shops that rent motorbikes to them, relevant authorities should simplify the procedures for them to drive legally.

According to regulations, only foreigners who have lived in Vietnam for at least three months can apply for a driver’s license. Since there is no test available in English or any other foreign language, applicants must be relatively fluent in Vietnamese.

Nguyen Van Dung, head of Nha Trang’s traffic police, said most foreigners to rent motorbikes are tourists who are in Vietnam for a less than a month and therefore cannot satisfy the three-month residency requirement.

Nguyen Van Dan, deputy director of the Khanh Hoa Department of Transport, said the language barrier is the biggest problem.

Local media reports on the ban against renting motorbikes to foreigners without driver’s licenses have attracted a number of comments online.

Paul Simos, who has written a book he sells online that instructs foreigners in Vietnam how to obtain a local driver’s license, said there should be a quick practical test for the issuance of short term licenses.

“This way they will be in the system and legal,” he said.

“Why is it so easy to rent a motorbike without a license? Enforcement should begin with the motorbike rental shops,” wrote another netizen.

Pham Huu Nam said it is necessary to enforce the Traffic Law thoroughly for both local and foreign drivers.

“However, there should be easier requirements to allow foreigners to obtain a local license,” he said, adding that the driver’s license exam in Vietnam should be available in the languages commonly spoken by tourists.

However, Melvyn Jones, who said he visits Vietnam every year, pointed out that if foreigners were to obtain Vietnamese driver’s licenses, it would not reduce the amount of accidents.

“Both Vietnamese and tourists can drive like lunatics. What is needed is more training and law enforcement.”

jackbl

21-09-2013, 02:56 PM

Many famous discotheques in Saigon raided
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VietNamNet Bridge - Suspected as sensitive places which are the home to prostitutes, drug addicts and gangsters, a series of large discotheques in Saigon have been checked.

The New Saigon Discotheque (No. 11 Cong Truong Me Linh Road, District 1) has a prime location in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City. This place was once famous for the name Bar 1102, known in slang as "second to none." This discotheque is designed as a magnificent castle, luring hundreds of people every night.

More than three days after being checked at the New Saigon discotheque at dawn on August 18, Lan Chi, 20 years old, living in District 10 said she would never dare go to such a place. The 2nd-year student of a private university said, on the night of August 17, she and her friends entered the disco to attend a friend's birthday party. This was her first time so Chi was overwhelmed by the spectacular scenery with colorful lights and rumbling sound.

"We just drank beer and watched others dancing. Everyone looked beautiful. Some friends of mine are also very stylish. It was so fun so we were there until midnight," Chi said.

At dawn, hundreds of policemen suddenly broke into the disco. There were about 400 people still dancing in the deafening music and flashing lights at that time. The space was densely with cigarette smoke.

Seeing police, hundreds of visitors found their way out but the entrances were blocked. Trained dogs were used to seek drugs. At the end of the check, dozens of people who were positive to drugs and some suspects were asked to go to the police office for investigation.

"The scene there was chaotic. When the light was turned on, a lot of people were nervous and frightened but some were still calm. A group was rigorously checked by the police. Later I knew that they were detected with drugs and weapons. Now I'm very scared," Chi said. Chi and her group had to submit their identification papers for the functional forces.

District 1 Police seized 17 pink tablets, a plastic packet of powder, three shisha pipes and many foreign wine bottles... Through on-the-spot tests, 13 customers including 11 men and 2 women were positive for drugs. In addition, 26 others were taken to police headquarters for being suspected as members of criminal gangs. Among the suspects in custody, police discovered Nguyen Ngoc Cuong (31 years old) held a police card. Urgent search at this man’s house on Cach Mang Thang Tam Road, District 3, the authorities also found a police hat, a gun firing rubber bullets, 9 bullets and the gun use certificate granted by the police of Lam Dong province.

After investigation, police determined that the police card used by Cuong belongs to another. Cuong said he picked out the card in District 3. The gun use certificate is faked and the gun is the gift from an overseas Vietnamese.

Earlier, in the early morning of June 29, the police raid Club 39 in Kumho Plaza Building, 39 Le Duan, District 1. At that time, there were more than 500 people in the club. The police seized over 20 drug users and suspected for investigation. Club 39 is located in the basement of the building. This place is the destination of young people of rich families and playboys at nights. In the early year, this bar was checked twice in over a month. The police also seized drugs and many suspects.

The Gold Club 02 disco (No. 2 Ho Huan Nghiep, District 1) is the biggest and most stylish players disco in Saigon. Located on the center road, next to many other bars but Gold Club 02 is always packed with young men and women every night.

In the early morning of a day in April, when hundreds of people were playing inside, the police force silently approached. Policemen controlled two guards outside, who were suspected to sell drug to customers. Hundreds of police officers blocked the road and struck inward. Detecting the police, many people threw drugs to the floor. Like a number of other clubs, this place violated the law.

HCM City police also combined with interdisciplinary teams of social and cultural forces to check dozens of restaurants, bars, small discos in the city.

As the home to the highest number of clubs in Saigon, District 1 authorities said they would continue checking clubs here in the coming time in order to prevent and stop crime, a senior official of District 1 said.

Translated by Le Ha

12cheong

22-09-2013, 02:06 AM

hi bros, this one a longer paragraph... I can make out the tinh-yeu, em, ko, co & sang bit..:o

"Chac la co tinh yeu dep len wen mat dg sang Singapore rui phai ko e?"

Would be glad bros can help to translate the above...

And there's these abbreviation hard to translate properly "cko" & "mjh". What do these mean?

mjh = mình? i.e. "their"?

My guess:

Chac la co tinh yeu dep len = Sure got beautiful lover come
wen (quen) mat = forgotten
dg = dang or dung
sang Singapore rui phai ko (khong)=go Singapore already is it

jackbl

23-09-2013, 12:41 AM

Eight delicious Chinese cuisines in Saigon
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VietNamNet Bridge - Along with cuisines of various regions in Vietnam, Chinese cuisines with unique characteristics contribute to the multicolored culinary painting of Saigon.

1. Hu tieu ca (fish kuy teav)

“hu tieu ca” or fish kuy teav is a famous dish of Chinese. The fish used in this cuisine is snakehead fish, which is cut up into fillet slices and mixed with salt and seasoning powder.

The consommé is cooked from pork bones and is flavored with spices, particularly one named “tang xai”. Fish kuy teav is served with salad, beansprouts, chili, lemon and soy sauce.

2. Mi vit tiem (Duck noodles)

This dish of the Chinese is processed to suit the tastes of Vietnamese. The consommé is sweet but not fatty; duck meat is crispy but soft. Also, the cuisine is attractive with fresh noodles made from eggs. When you try this dish, you will feel the softness and sweetness of noodles besides the crunchy sweet cabbage.

3. Sa te noodles

This is the dish of the Chinese in District 5, 6 and 11. What made the taste of this cuisine is the broth, which is prepared from 20 kinds of flavors and spices.

A bowl of sa te noodles includes broth, noodles, beef or beef balls and various kinds of fresh vegetables such as cucumbers, beansprouts, carambola fruits, basil, coriander ....

4. Tieu porridge

This kind of porridge is similar to pig’s tripes porridge of Vietnamese with ingredients such as heart, liver, small intestine, kidney... in addition to mushrooms, fresh squid and a lot of onion leaves, ginger, etc. This dish is suitable for chilly days or for those with colds.

5. Pha lau

For gourmets in Saigon, pha lau is a special cuisine that they cannot ignore. Pha lau is processed from stomach and small intestine, lung, liver and heart of cows. These things are mixed with five spices, then fried and boiled again. Coconut milk is the main ingredient of the broth of pha lau, making the sweet and fatty tastes of the broth. Pha lau is served with bread.

6. Sui cao

Sui cao are processed similar with wonton but sui cao are much larger and with more filling. The filling is usually made from chopped shrimp, pork, vegetables ... and mixed with spices.

Sui cao are made by spreading a square wrapper (a dough skin made of flour, egg, water, and salt) flat in the palm of one's hand, placing a small amount of filling in the center, and sealing the sui cao into the semicircle shape by compressing the wrapper's edges together with the fingers. Sui cao can be boiled, steamed or fried.

7. Cade sticky rice

This cuisine is the mixture of sticky rice, egg yolk and very faint aroma of durian. The major ingredient is cade, which is the mix of eggs, sugar, coconut juice, durian according to a unique recipe to create a charming fragrance. Besides cade, there are coconut and crushed peanuts to make cade sticky rice delicious.

8. Quy phuc linh (Tortoise Jelly)

Quy phuc linh in Vietnamese of Guīlínggāo in Chinese is also known as Tortoise Jelly or Turtle Jelly. This is a jelly-like Chinese medicine, also sold as a dessert.

It was traditionally made from the powdered plastron (bottom shell) from the turtle Cuora trifasciata (commonly known as three-lined box turtle or golden coin turtle) and a variety of herbal products, in particular, Smilax glabra.

More often, commercially available guīlínggāo sold as a dessert does not contain turtle shell powder at all, despite the product name and the prominent turtle images on most brands' labels. They do, however, share the same herbal additives as the medicine and are similarly marketed as being good for skin complexion when ingested.

In addition to the aforementioned dishes, Chinese in Saigon have many other delicious dishes such as Yangzhou fried rice, Peking duck, Ho noodles, dim sims, mi chi ca, che hot ga….

T. Van

jackbl

25-09-2013, 12:29 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Learn Vietnamese Outback Vocabulary
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jackbl

26-09-2013, 10:44 AM

Vietnam’s population hits 90 million
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VietNamNet Bridge - With nearly 89 million people, Vietnam has become the 13th most populous country in the world and 3rd in Southeast Asia.

The information was released by Deputy Minister of Health – Mr. Nguyen Viet Tien - at the conference reviewing 10-year implementation of the Population Ordinance, which took place on Tuesday in Hanoi.

According to Tien, although the growth rate decreased (an increase of one million annually) in recent years, the population density was quite large, up to 267 people per one square kilometer, adding Vietnam to the group of countries with the world's highest population density.

In addition, the gender imbalance at birth is still a big issue. Hung Yen province in northern Vietnam has the highest gender imbalance ratio at birth of 130.7 boys/100 girls. The desire to have a son to “worship the ancestors and take care of the" is still quite common in Vietnamese families.

According to Professor Nguyen Dinh Cu, from the Institute of Population and Social Affairs, the percentage of pregnant women who know ahead of the sex of the fetus in 2012 increased to more than 81 percent. The Population Ordinance bans prenatal sex selection but the ratio of gender imbalance at birth increased steadily. Thus, the violation of the regulations on gender issues was quite popular.

Besides, Vietnam is in the golden age of population but the quality of human resources, the quality of the population is limited. The rate of people who can read and write high is high but the training level is low. Less than 15 percent of the population (aged 15 and over) are technically trained.

Hence, the Ministry of Health has established the Population Law Drafting Committee to amend a number of issues, such as donation, selling of sperm, eggs, embryos, surrogate pregnancy, consultancy services of sex selection at birth, sex selection, etc.

According to Professor Nguyen Dinh Cu, the Population Law should be adjusted in the direction of tightening the regulations on abortion, the conditions for abortion.

Le Ha

jackbl

26-09-2013, 10:47 AM

Good news for those who wanted to visit DANANG city :

Singaporean, S. Korean carriers to fly to central Vietnam’s hub daily
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Korean Air and Singapore’s Silk Air will add four more flights to Da Nang City this October, following the schedule expansions of domestic carrier Vietnam Airlines and other foreign airlines earlier this year.

Korean Air will have three more flights per week from Seoul from October 27, and Silk Air will add a Thursday flight from Singapore to its current schedule from October 31, making the two carriers fly every day to Da Nang, Vietnam's third-largest city, Balcony Media Group said recently in a press release Friday.

According to the release, the flight additions will satisfy more demand from Australian, the UK and other European countries with Silk Air and from the US with Korean Air.

It also said the three flights by Korean Air will boost the number of flights from Seoul to Da Nang every week to 14 – including those provided by South Korea’s Asiana Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.

Vietnam Airlines commenced two new flights to Da Nang from Seoul and Cambodia’s Siem Reap July 1, while Hong Kong-based Dragonair on March 28 started flights between Hong Kong and Da Nang every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and added a weekly Saturday flight to the route from July 6.

Currently, three Chinese airlines – China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Shanghai Airlines are also offering flights from Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai respectively to Da Nang, the release said.

jackbl

27-09-2013, 12:43 AM

XNN starts from school???????

80% of Vietnamese college students lie to parents: survey
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The percentage of students who lie to their parents increases as they grow older, an expert reported at an education conference on Tuesday.

Professor and Doctor of Science Tran Ngoc Them, the director of a cultural studies center under the Vietnam National University – Ho Chi Minh City, quoted a poll by the Vietnam Institute for Research on Educational Development as saying that eighty percent of Vietnamese college students lie to their parents, while sixty-four percent of high school students do so.

The survey also said that half of middle school students tell lies to parents, while the figure topped 22 percent among elementary school kids, Prof Dr Them added at an event in Da Lat City.

Social changes and a better living standard have exerted certain negative impacts on local students, in addition to good effects, the expert said.

He was referring to complaints about a surge in school violence, selfishness and narcissism among students, and the cursing of teachers and family members on Facebook, among other ill manners.

This may stem from the failure of teachers to teach their students life skills, apart from stuffing them with academic knowledge, local educators have said.

There is an absence of instructors formally trained to teach life skills, so schools often forget about this important part of education, Prof Dr Them explained.

Dr Huynh Van Son, a psychologist at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, suggested that parents should work with schools to teach students how to behave in social scenarios and respond to real-life circumstances to help rectify the situation.

jackbl

28-09-2013, 08:07 AM

It’s not only food, it’s culture
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“Easy, easy, don’t break the pancake, you’ll hurt it…” the young chef told a group of foreign learners who were trying their best to make Vietnamese pancake banh xeo at the Saigon Cooking Class, a place for expats who want to conquer Vietnamese foods.

Born in 2009, the Saigon Cooking Class located in District 1 in downtown Ho Chi Minh City is what French lady Ilda Briosca has devoted herself to. Living in Vietnam for almost 7 years, Ilda has had a crush on Vietnamese cuisine since 2008 when a friend of hers opened a Vietnamese restaurant where traditional and modern recipes were combined.

Getting inspiration from that, the woman who saw something special with Vietnamese cuisine went to numerous schools to learn about the foods she’s in love with. However, Ilda said she wasn’t satisfied with those schools so she came up with the idea to bring all knowledge she had acquired about Vietnamese foods into a place where she could inspire other people.

“I opened my cooking school, because I wanted to offer people what I wanted to seek for myself. I wanted to put everything I have learned in Vietnam about the cuisine at HCMC Hoa Tuc restaurant, local markets and traditional kitchen utensil, as well as everything I love from Vietnamese food in my cooking class so all tourists and expats can discover what I discovered in the past years without having to search for months,” Ilda, who can cook lots of Vietnamese dishes, shared.

According to Ilda, who called herself passionate with Vietnamese food, cooking is an important and fascinating way to bring Vietnamese culture to foreigners.

“What and how local eat revels much about their history and culture,” she expressed.

Not only offering hands-on cooking, each class of Saigon Cooking Class attaches a tour to Ben Thanh market where learners themselves can experience the local culture vividly as well as buy fresh ingredients for their dishes.

“Through the market tour, our chefs can show a lot of different ingredients, and talk about local traditions with learners,” Ilda said.

Vu Trong Khang, 23, a Saigon Cooking Class’ chef said he felt happy seeing excited faces of learners when he told them about local traditional things through the foods.

“We not only cook and show people how to cook, we also have to introduce the history of the dishes, local culture as well as the differences between cooking methods in Vietnam and their countries,” he expressed.

Vietnamese food is not only “phở”

According to Ilda, the famous Vietnamese beef noodle is not very preferable at her class because it takes a long time to be done though it’s not complicated. The successful dishes, as she said, are banh xeo, bo la lot (grilled beef rolled with betel leaves), fried spring rolls and bun thit nuong (grilled pork with noodles).

“In their imagination, Vietnamese food is historically represented by beef noodle soup. As soon as they discover something different, they prefer bo la lot, banh xeo, bun thit nuong more than pho,” Ilda talked about her learners.

“Vietnamese cuisine recipes are endless, from North to Central and South. Even in the South, people cook in different ways. You can continue to learn for all your life,” she added.

Learners of the class are mainly from Australia, America, Europe and Asian countries/territories such as Hong Kong and the Philippines. They include both short-time visitors and expats. To many of them, coming to the class is not only about learning cooking, but also for exchanging with people and relaxing. Some of them even admitted that they never cooked at home.

Asked about expanding the class, Ilda said she prefers a small place with around 10 learners for a class. “I don’t want to have the class too big, because when you have a very big cooking class, the quality is not ensured.”

To her, the best moment is hearing the laughter of learners and their sighs of contentment when eat what they have cooked.

“I like to see people’s faces when they’re surprised because they are able to do the food. I love to see people’s reaction when they look at their presentation then laugh and taste it,” she added.

jackbl

29-09-2013, 02:15 PM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Vietnamese Insect Vocabulary!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if5Isukvokk

jackbl

01-10-2013, 12:12 PM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - VietnamesePod101.com Is Not Your Ordinary Wolf in Sheep's Clothing!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imTFLyp5sEs

jackbl

01-10-2013, 12:23 PM

Exploring Danang in one day
==============================================

VietNamNet Bridge – Danang, a coastal city in the central, is a mixture of stunning beaches, splendid islands, picturesque mountains, rich ancient history, and many beautiful bridges. However, what tourists should do as they just have one day to go around there will be mentioned hereunder.

From HCMC, travelers can take the early morning flight to get Danang City at 8 a.m. Then, your should go straight to Ngu Hanh Son Mountain nestled 8 kilometers southeast of Danang City. It was named after the five basic elements of the universe in which each mountain is assigned an element - metal, wood, fire, water and earth.

Recognized as national relic in March 20, 1990, the mountain is a cluster of five marble mountains lying close to the sea so that is why it is dubbed Hon Non Nuoc, which means mountain and water in Vietnamese. The limestone mountain is home to splendid scenery, pagodas and grottoes, seducing travelers by the tranquil air and natural beauty.

Trekking up to Thuy Son Mountain which is the highest and the most beautiful peak in the range, tourists can see Tam Thai Pagoda as the first stop after conquering hundreds of stone steps. On the right of the pagoda is the 30-meter Xa Loi Tower. Tourists can also buy a ticket at VND15,000 for elevator to get the tower at the height of 43 meters off the ground.

Descending on foot, tourists can stroll around a traditional stone-engraving village where sculptors ply their trade in small gardens and guests can find traditional and modern motifs and imagery with diverse products from statues, jewelry, household items and artworks.

Then excursionists can take a taxi with a cost of VND660,000 for a distance of 80 kilometers to Ba Na Hills where can give tourists thrilling experience of being in the clouds at the height of 1,487 meters above sea level by a cable car costing of VND450,000 per person.

There travelers can admire many attractions such as an ancient castle in Western architecture, Debay wine cellar, Linh Ung Pagoda where has a 27-meter-high white Sakyamuni Buddha Statue facing a panoramic view of the forest and the city below, Fantasy Park in the shape of a huge cave under the ground and Morin Hotel equipped with high-end services. Guests can have buffet lunch there at VND180,000 per a ticket.

One of the most highlighted destination there is a museum where tourists can see many worldwide famous ones in statues such as Leonardo Dicaprio, Jackie Chan, Mr. Bean, Bi Rain, Messi, David Beckham, the Cambridge Queen Elizabeth, the U.S President Obama former South African President nelson Mandela.

Ba Na is endowed with fascinating landscapes with temperature of 22 to 25 degree Celsius. Stepping upon it, tourists may think you are in the mysterious land.

After leaving Ba Na at about 4 p.m., tourists can take taxi to Linh Ung Pagoda an Bai But Beach on Son Tra Peninsula. Sunset is the time for you to admire the romance in My Khe Beach.

Source: SGT

jackbl

04-10-2013, 09:44 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - It's a Jungle Out There: Let VietnamesePod101 Show You an Easier Way!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdHT6Lwt5yA

lonexiaobao

04-10-2013, 11:02 PM

This is good for newbie like me to learn simple viet language..
Hope to see more videos... thanks bro jackbl

Hurricane88

05-10-2013, 09:31 AM

This is good for newbie like me to learn simple viet language..
Hope to see more videos... thanks bro jackbl

ha...you want more videos...you can learn all ha...:)

me learn 10 videos already gave up...brain cannot store so much...:)

jackbl

05-10-2013, 01:20 PM

This is good for newbie like me to learn simple viet language..
Hope to see more videos... thanks bro jackbl

No problem, I just do copy and paste only, very little effort. I will post slowly for u to digest.

jackbl

05-10-2013, 01:25 PM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Birds of a Feather Flock Together at VietnamesePod101.com!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdLtC8DUm0U

jackbl

06-10-2013, 01:10 AM

The secrets of Saigon’s night clubs
================================================
VietNamNet Bridge - Most discotheques and bars in HCM City do not have a business license. These are the destination of gangsters, drug addicts and high-end prostitutes.

Before June 2013, New Saigon club, No. 11 Me Linh Square, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, was called Disco 1102 and it was run by a man named L, from Hanoi. This business was not licensed as a night club or discotheque but it lured several hundreds of people each night, who came to dance until 2-3am.

In almost two years of operation, Discotheque 1102 were inspected ten times but it was fined three times, from VND3 million to VND80 million ($150-$4,000).

In June, this discotheque was upgraded and returned in the new name – New Saigon Discotheque. This time, New Saigon registered under the name of Saigon Moi Company, licensed on June 20 in the restaurant, food, travel, advertising business, with Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dat, 37, a native of Hanoi as the director.

Though its name was changed, New Saigon is still an “Illegal” discotheque. In the morning of August 18, Saigon police raided this club and detected eight violations. However, the club still opened the next days.

The 02 Gold Club, No. 2 Ho Huan Nghiep Street, Ben Nghe Ward, District 1, a few dozen meters from New Saigon, is also a popular venue for playboys. A series of raids and inspection were conducted at this place but it is still operating.

A similar case is Feeling Bar on Au Co Street, Ward 10, Tan Binh District. This is considered one of the biggest clubs in Saigon’s suburbs and it was several times detected with violations, but it is operating normally.

The question is why?

A member of the HCM City’s cultural-social inspection team said that clubs that break the rules several times will have their license revoked. However, such clubs are opened again in the new name or under the name of new owners.

Notably, a popular violation at night clubs and discotheques is selling alcohol without licenses but since the fine is too low – VND400,000 ($200), clubs keep selling alcohol after paying fines.

Night clubs and discotheques are also the venues for gangsters, drug users and traders. In a recent raid to New Saigon, the inspectors seized some drugs and arrested eight gangsters. At the inspection of the 02 Gold Club in mid-April, the police discovered a drug trading ring, with the participation of gangsters and the club’s staff.

If a night club is found with drugs, the club owner will explain that they cannot prevent customers from using drugs. In addition, to attract visitors, most clubs open their doors free for high-class prostitutes.

Dam De

jackbl

06-10-2013, 01:29 AM

Legendary Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap dies
================================================== ======================

General Vo Nguyen Giap, who died Friday aged 102, was considered one of history's greatest military strategists and was the architect of Vietnam's stunning battlefield victories against France and the United States.

Second only to late revolutionary leader Ho Chi Minh as modern Vietnam's most revered figure, the former history teacher's first military lesson came from an old encyclopedia entry about the mechanism of a hand grenade.

The son of a poor scholar, he went on to defeat Vietnam's colonial masters in 1954 at Dien Bien Phu, the battle that ended French rule in Indochina and started direct US involvement leading to the Vietnam War.

Over the next two decades the founding father of the Vietnam People's Army, whose guerrilla tactics inspired anti-colonial fighters worldwide, again led his forces to victory with the fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

"When I was young, I had a dream that one day I would see my country free and united," General Giap later recounted in a PBS interview. "That day, my dream came true."

General Giap's brilliance as a strategist places him "in the pantheon of great military leaders" with the Duke of Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and General Douglas MacArthur, wrote American journalist and author Stanley Karnow.

"Unlike them, however, he owed his achievements to innate genius rather than to formal training."

Classroom to battlefield

Born on August 25, 1911 in the village of An Xa in central Quang Binh province, General Giap was an admirer of Napoleon and Sun Tzu but did not always appear destined to become a soldier.

Fluent in French, he studied political economy in Hanoi before teaching history and literature at a college and working as an underground journalist.

A member of the Indochina Communist Party, he fled to China in 1939, where he joined Ho Chi Minh, the enigmatic leader who had planned the revolution during decades in exile.

Giap's wife, who stayed behind with their newborn child, died in a French prison, a personal tragedy that would fuel his anti-colonial fervor.

He returned with Ho Chi Minh to Vietnam's northern jungles in 1941 to train an army of revolutionary peasant soldiers and co-founded the Viet Minh (abbreviated from Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội, English "League for the Independence of Vietnam").

General Giap's guerrilla tactics -- which stressed the need for popular support, the value of hit-and-run attacks and the will to fight a drawn-out war -- would defeat both the French and the American armies.

"Guerrilla war is the war of the broad masses of an economically backward country standing up against a powerfully equipped and well-trained army of aggression," he wrote in one of several memoirs.

"Every inhabitant is a soldier, every village a fortress."

President Ho proclaimed his first government on September 2, 1945 and named Giap as his interior minister, army chief and later defense minister.

The revolutionaries were forced back into the jungle when French troops reimposed colonial rule after World War II, triggering a nine-year conflict that ended at Dien Bien Phu.

"It was the first great defeat for the West," General Giap later said. "It shook the foundations of colonialism and called on people to fight for their freedom -- it was the beginning of international civilization."

General Giap remained the army's commander in chief throughout the ensuing conflict with the Americans and the US-backed South Vietnam regime, which turned into full-scale war from 1965 and claimed the lives of 58,000 Americans and at least three million Vietnamese.

The fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975, followed by the country's reunification, fuelled his near-mythical status overseas as a master strategist and inspired liberation movements everywhere.

"As we grew up in our own struggle, General Giap was one of our national heroes," South African President Thabo Mbeki said in 2007.

After the war, General Giap retained his position as defense minister and was appointed deputy prime minister in 1976.

General Giap, who had been living in Hanoi's 108 military hospital for the last three years, is survived by Dang Bich Ha, his wife since 1949, and four children.

jackbl

06-10-2013, 01:51 PM

Gangsterism abounds at Vietnam metro airport, ‘crackdowns’ for naught
================================================== =================================

Despite a backlash in the press and lots of loud lip-service from authorities, thieves and dishonest cabbies continue to prey on passengers at Vietnam’s main international airport

Passengers checking out at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. The airport security agency has reported a rash of crimes targeting passengers recently. Photo by Diep Duc Minh

Tran Thi Hang saw two men in fancy outfits staring at her when she arrived at Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport after a recent flight from Singapore.

She saw them again in the parking lot as she walked to her motorbike. But this time they were on a bike and speeding straight for her. Next thing she knew, they had snatched her bag and were speeding away.

“They must have followed me as I checked out,” said the 28-year-old woman. She lost 1,000 Singapore dollars, 300 US dollars, a cell phone and her cosmetics.

Many similar cases have been reported around the airport, highlighting a spate of robbery, extortion and swindling targeting passengers arriving at Ho Chi Minh City’s only airport, the most bustling transit point in the nation.

In another case, a local man, identified only as K, arrived at the airport on September 12 and walked out along nearby Truong Son Street when five men robbed his watch and US$15,000.

The victim said it was likely that his watch, which he said was worth about $100,000, that attracted the robbers who probably followed him from the airport.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Pham Cong Nghia, chief of police in Tan Binh District’s Ward 2, where the airport terminal is located, said many robbers have begun operating in and around the airport because they believe airplane passengers carry lots of money and valuables.

Easy infiltration

Nghia said criminal gangs from northern provinces have migrated to HCMC recently and are using new ploys to make off with people’s money and property. Add that to the fact that local criminals have also stepped up operations, and things at the airport look pretty bad.

The Tan Binh District police are currently filing robbery charges against 32-year-old Le Hoang Chanh for stealing luggage at Tan Son Nhat in May.

According to police, Chanh, who is serving a one-year probation sentence for a previous robbery conviction, came to the airport’s international arrival section and took a bag of luggage from the carousel.

Wearing smart clothes to impersonate a passenger, he put the stolen luggage in a trolley and easily pushed it out of the terminal. Police said he used the elevator, instead of passing through the gate like most other passengers, to avoid the check-out process.

He was arrested while stealing another bag with the same ploy. Chanh even claimed that he had taken someone’s bag by mistake before confessing to the crime, police said.

Earlier, airport security detected Nguyen Thi My, 41, via security camera tapes, which showed her stealing the purse of a Taiwanese passenger.

My admitted that she came to the airport to steal. After seeing the Taiwanese passenger put her wallet on a pile of luggage, My cleverly stole it while hiding the act with a coat over her arm.

Swindling

Besides outright robberies, police and airport security have also caught con men and swindlers operating at the airport.

Captain Mai Trong Hanh of the District 10 Police Department said officers recently arrested groups of thieves who have confessed to luring airport passengers to hotels for “massages” before stealing their property.

Among the gangs was one led by Nguyen Van Tung and Nguyen Thi Ha, who were arrested and investigated on swindling charges.

Investigators said the duo came to the airport and found Japanese passenger Mayata Yuki waiting for a delayed flight.

They offered a massage package at a hotel in District 10 and after the service, Yuki found that her iPad and money, valuing more than $1,000 in different currencies, were gone.

According to the police, many criminals tend to target foreigners, assuming that they have valuable property and are not watchful enough.

“Criminals even buy a ticket like other passengers but only to be allowed to enter limited areas, like the waiting rooms, to steal properties,” Nghia, the police chief of Tan Binh District’s Ward 2, said.

Unsolved taxi problems

According to the airport’s Aviation Security Center, last week, a South Korean passenger taking a taxi from the airport to a hotel in the city was extorted by a cabbie who charged more than ten times the real fee.

The driver, who was later identified as a Saigon Tourist taxi driver, charged the Korean passenger VND1.5 million while the meter displayed only VND140,000.

After reporting the case, the security agency coordinated with police and identified the driver, who later confessed to the scam and returned the money.

Do Xuan Toan, the agency’s director, said such taxi problems have been persistent for years and are difficult to deal with for several reasons.

“Many passengers only stay for a few days while investigations often take longer,” he said.

“After arresting the criminals, police only issue an administrative fine instead of criminal charges because the victim is not present as required in criminal procedures in order to press charges against the culprits,” he told Vietweek.

He said many criminals, including taxi drivers, have abused this loophole to commit crimes.

He also used the excuse that when scams or robberies happen to tourists in taxis that have left the airport, jurisdiction becomes an issue because even victims who report the crimes do not know the city well enough to pinpoint the location of the crime.

Meanwhile, many taxi firms do not require a deposit from drivers to ensure their honesty at work, he said.

“The strictest measure a driver can face is dismissal. So they are not deterred against violations like appropriating property or stealing money from passengers,” he said.

He admitted that the fact that criminals were now operating inside the terminal was a serious problem.

He said many airlines sell electronic ticket, making it difficulty for security to check their tickets.

“The ticket can be a number code in their phone,” he said. “Previously, we checked paper tickets before passengers entered the luggage check section. It used to be safer for the passenger’s luggage because the criminals, who do not have tickets, could not enter this area.”

He said his agency has coordinated with local police but the airport is located on the border of different wards, which makes the security situation more “complicated”.

“The aviation security agency has tried their best. But it requires actions from other relevant agencies like the police and city authorities to maintain the safety of passengers and to handle violations thoroughly as a deterrent.”

lonexiaobao

06-10-2013, 10:12 PM

ha...you want more videos...you can learn all ha...:)

me learn 10 videos already gave up...brain cannot store so much...:)

haha I only learn those common phrases and daily words that I would need to interact with people... these already killed lot of my brain cells..

besides pronunciation is a problem too.. not easy to pronounce them :eek:

Hurricane88

06-10-2013, 10:24 PM

haha I only learn those common phrases and daily words that I would need to interact with people... these already killed lot of my brain cells..

besides pronunciation is a problem too.. not easy to pronounce them :eek:

you telling me...VBs always say "a noi tieng viet de thuong..."...:p

can nvr graduate from Primary school...:p

lonexiaobao

07-10-2013, 09:21 PM

you telling me...VBs always say "a noi tieng viet de thuong..."...:p

can nvr graduate from Primary school...:p

haha maybe they really say that but the only problem is when they open their mouth, I am like talking with a m60 with unlimited bullets... no idea where to catch their start or end to understand them :o

Its like talking cantonese in HK where hongkongers wouldnt understand our singaporeans' cantonese

poop_ant

08-10-2013, 11:35 PM

Hi bros, may i know what does this means

Yeu Doi, Lac Quang, Nhung ko Hoang lac

Thanks

jackbl

10-10-2013, 02:50 PM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Have a Whale of a Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aagmftkIUzY

jackbl

11-10-2013, 12:07 PM

Hi bros, may i know what does this means

Yeu Doi, Lac Quang, Nhung ko Hoang lac

Thanks

My guess:

yeu doi = yêu đời = enjoy life

lac quang = cant find, can find lac quan. Got 2 meaning lạc quần(sociable) and lạc quan(optimistic)

jackbl

11-10-2013, 04:35 PM

Vietnamese bachelors lack skills in looking for jobs
================================================== =============
VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of excellent university graduates complain they cannot find jobs. This is not because of the economic recession, but because of the candidates’ lack of necessary skills.

Nguyen Anh Thu, the manager of a dairy company in HCM City, said many times the candidates with “excellent” university degrees “did not understand who they were and what they wanted.”

A bachelor from Ninh Thuan province insisted on having a meeting with the manager after hearing that his curriculum vitae was not shortlisted. He affirmed that no one of the new recruited workers deserved to get the job more than him.

Thu said that the attitude of the candidate alone made her believe that she made a right decision when refusing him.

“In general, the graduates with A-grade believe they are the best. Therefore, they tend to be very demanding when applying for jobs,” she said. “However, their overly high requirements cannot be met by the company.”

T Nguyen, an excellent economics bachelor remains redundant for the last six months because no company offers him the monthly salary of VND20 million, or nearly $1,000, as he expects.

Nguyen was a good student of a well-known university in Hanoi. Therefore, he believed that he would be the target of many head hunting firms. However, to date, Nguyen still cannot find the satisfactory job, because, according to Nguyen, the employers are not experienced enough to discover the talents.

Nguyen Minh, the owner of a glass table enterprise in HCM City, agreed to pay highly to T, the bachelor of an economics school in HCM City, but later, dismissed him.

Minh admitted that T is a qualified worker, but he still decided to dismiss him after some thoughts. The boss several times agreed to raise salaries for T after he excellently fulfilled the company’s plans. However, as T’s demands got higher, Minh decided not to satisfy him any more.

Minh, who believed that he was the only “star” in the company, then asked Minh to sack some workers, because he thought he did not accepted to work under the people who were not as good as him.

“As he is uncooperative with the colleagues, he will not be able to fulfill his duties. I need the workers with good teamwork skills, not a star,” he said.

T left the company when the boss refused to please his requirements. He planned to set up a firm of his own which he believed would compete with Minh’s company. However, his business failed completely, while Minh refused to invite him back.

The statement of a Hanoi Foreign Trade University’s bachelor some months ago-- that she would only take the job if the boss accepts to pay her $1,000 a month once stirred up the business community.

The Hanoi Foreign Trade University is one of the most prestigious schools in Vietnam, which is called the Vietnamese Harvard. Therefore, the school graduates believe that they have the right to be choosy when looking for jobs.

The school’s students, therefore, have been “boycotted” by many employers. Some Vietnamese enterprises, in their recruitment notice, state that they will refuse the Hanoi Foreign Trade University’s candidates.

Tien Phong

jackbl

12-10-2013, 12:47 PM

Drug use on the rise in Vietnam
=================================================
Ineffective rehab programs see relapses in most people treated for drug addiction

Do not walk Ho Chi Minh City's bridges barefoot, or even in sandals. Used needles are everywhere.

A Vietweek reporter recently observed two men shooting up on the Cha Va Bridge (which connects districts 5 and 8) in two separate incidents in a short period of time.

One was a young man who walked along the bridge and put the needle in his arm for all to see. Another was a slightly older man who pulled his motorbike over to the side of the road and then shot up on the stairs out of view of traffic. Both men threw their bloody syringes on the ground after using them.

Drug addicts have long gotten high on bridges in HCMC because it is one of the few places in the crowded city – including their own homes where they are often watched by family members – they can shoot up away from the prying eyes of neighbors, family and local residents. Those who might catch a glimpse of them on the bridge are often driving by too fast to notice or do anything.

The more rampant use of drugs on HCMC bridges appears to be reflecting an increase of drug users nationwide. According to the government website, Vietnam had more than 171,000 drug users by the end of 2012, an increase of 12,900 over 2011. Experts say that one main cause is that rehabilitation centers are failing and most of their patients are relapsing.

Bridges to Babylon

Intravenous drug use, mostly heroin, is very common on several footbridges that cross Vo Van Kiet Street in District 5.

When a Vietweek reporter visited footbridge No. 6, a frightened man who was using the stairs warned: “Don’t go there, drug addicts just threatened me.”

The footbridge across Binh Thanh District’s No Trang Long Street near the Tumor Hospital is also a common place for drug users any time of day.

According to a 2010 decree on administrative fines against violations of public security and order, drug use is subjected to fines from VND500,000-VND1 million (US$23.5-47).

Repeat violations, after compulsory rehabilitation, are subjected to jail terms of between three months and two years.

However, many residents said current police efforts are not nearly enough and are in fact barely a deterrent at all.

A resident near the Nguyen Huu Canh Overpass in Binh Thanh District who wanted to be identified only as M. said he has never seen any guards or police confront drug users there.

“Local police just walk by without finding the drug users hiding in the small park under the bridge,” he said.

In the first half of this year, HCMC police arrested 1,519 people involved in drug crimes. A majority of the cases involved drug smuggling while the rest involved organized drug use. Nationwide, there were more than 14,300 people arrested for drug crimes during the period.

The Ministry of Public Security said Vietnam arrested 14,178 people for drug crimes in the first half of this year, up 22.3 percent from a year earlier. The amount of heroin seized by the police in the January to June period totaled 238.8 kilograms, more than double from the same period last year.

Rehab shmehab

According to the Ministry of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, an average of between 75-90 percent of drug addicts treated nationwide have relapsed after rehabilitation. Dien Bien Province has seen up to 97 percent of its rehabilitated drug users return to a life of substance abuse.

In HCMC, more than 2,100 drug users have been sent to compulsory rehab centers in the first half of this year, increasing the total number of people at drug rehab centers to more than 9,000 people.

Nguyen Thi Diep, a daily wage worker at HCMC’s Hoc Mon District said both her two sons died of AIDS they acquired by sharing needles.

“My second son died less than a month after being discharged from the rehab center. He had been discharged earlier in healthy conditions,” she said.

“But he relapsed then and died on the street. He did not tell me but subsequent tests showed he was positive for AIDS,” she said, adding that her daughter-in-law is also a drug user.

Nguyen Minh Quan, another drug user who has been using drugs for five years, said virtually all drug users think they will use drugs again sooner or later after rehabilitation.

“Very few people have quit for long. If they can find a stable job and their family shares their burden, they could forget drugs. But if they suffer some shocking event, they can return to drugs again for relief.

“For example, when their wife leaves them, they can relapse. And if they are infected with HIV/AIDS, they want to indulge in drugs for the rest of their lives without any intention of quitting,” he told Vietweek.

According to Vo Xuan Huy of the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in HCMC, virtually all drug users relapse. If official figures do not reflect that, he said, the numbers are not being correctly reported.

A hard pill to swallow

In a bid to find an alternative to its controversial compulsory treatment centers, Vietnam has since 2008 opened 62 methadone clinics for heroin addicts.

Methadone, a substitution therapy used to treat opioid dependence, helps assuage withdrawal symptoms for heroin addiction and prevent the spread of HIV among injecting drug users.

14,000 drug users have got benefit from methadone treatment program in the last five years, Viet Nam News said last month, citing the Ministry of Health.

However, the figure was quite modest when the program targets treating 80,000 addicts in 30 provinces by 2015, the English daily said.

Meanwhile, a doctor at a methadone center in Hai Phong City who asked to remain anonymous said methadone therapy has been ineffective for many drug users.

“They stealthily spit out the pill after taking it,” he said.

Nguyen Trong An, a senior official at the social affairs ministry, said it was a strange situation.

“Methadone therapy has been carried out for a long time ago abroad. But the history and culture of other countries are different from ours,” he told Vietweek.

“For example in the Netherlands and Germany, it’s no big deal for a drug user to take methadone voluntarily. However, in our country, some places even stipulate that the people taking methadone have to say ‘ahhhhh’ or speak out loud to say good-bye to doctor or medical worker,” he said.

“It sounds really strange at first sight but the measure is to make sure they swallow the pill.”

Evading the law

From a law enforcement perspective, Nguyen Ngoc Tinh, a drug crime police officer in HCMC, said the increase of drug use is partly because of the lax surveillance of drug smuggling.

“Most drug smugglers and gang kingpins are criminals who have already served several jail terms and they are very cunning in coping with anti-drug agencies. It’s very difficult to bust a ring and takes a long time tracking them in interprovincial missions.

“It’s also difficult to bust the smuggling of drugs on buses from the north. And when we discover cases, we can’t arrest the gang’s mastermind. We have mostly arrested only the ones who directly smuggle drugs and those to whom they intended to deliver the consignment,” he told Vietweek.

Vietnam’s drug laws are among the toughest in the world. Under its penal code, anyone convicted of trafficking, illegally producing or transporting 100 grams or more of heroin or cocaine can be sentenced to death.

Despite the tough punishment, the Ministry of Public Security said earlier this year that the situation of drug crime in Vietnam is getting more “complicated,” partly due to the expansion of drug trafficking rings that smuggle drugs from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia into Southeast Asian countries.

Asked about long-term measures to deal with drug use in Vietnam, Nguyen Van Minh, deputy director of the HCMC social affairs department, said rehab activities at both official rehabilitation centers and with local communities should be improved.

“But the family has to play the main role in preventing their children from relapsing after rehab. Many families don’t care about their addicted children, including how effective they are rehabilitated,” he said.

“How can these people find a job and who can they make friends with?”

nyquist88

12-10-2013, 11:43 PM

Saw this message on my girlfriend phone
"Da guri cam xuc cho ban"

What does this mean ? Many thanks.

jackbl

13-10-2013, 12:43 PM

Saw this message on my girlfriend phone
"Da guri cam xuc cho ban"

Help u to break down the sentence to individual words so u can find in dictionary:

Da guri cam xuc cho ban = [Da] [gui] [cam xuc] [cho] [ban]

jackbl

14-10-2013, 12:27 AM

The names in General Vo Nguyen Giap's life
================================================== =======
VietNamNet Bridge - General Vo Nguyen Giap had many other names in his illustrious life, which were associated with a heroic period of Vietnam's history.

Many people still believe that General Giap’s original name is "Van" but in reality, Vo Nguyen Giap is his birth name.

According to the habit of many families in Vietnam in the past, parents usually named their children in accordance with their year of birth. However, General Giap was born in 1911 (Year of the Pig or Tan Hoi in Vietnamese), unrelated to the letter “Giap”.

Perhaps, his father, teacher Vo Quang Nghiem put his desires on the names of his children and these names had an effect on their lives.

Vo means martial arts, Nguyen and Giap mean the first, Giap is also mean amour. Vo means amour. Despite graduating from the law school and working as a journalist and a teacher, Mr. Giap later became a world-wide famous high-ranking general and commander. Meanwhile, his brother, who was named Vo Thuan Nho (learning and studying), later served as Deputy Minister of Education.

At school, he used the names Vo Nguyen Giap and Vo Giap. His law degree (granted by the Hanoi University of Law in 1938) specifies the name Vo Nguyen Giap or Vo Giap.

During his life, General Giap used many different names.

In 1929-1930, he used pen names Van Dinh and Hai Thanh on the articles in Vietnamese and French on “Hon Tre” (Young Soul) or Notre Voix (Our Voice) and Le Travail (Labor) newspapers.

After the August Revolution, writing for the government newspapers, he used the names Vo Nguyen Giap and Hong Nam.

On 3/05/1940, joining Mr. Pham Van Dong (later the Prime Minister) to cross the border to China to meet with Ho Chi Minh, Vo Nguyen Giap used the alias Duong Hoai Nam.

Later he named his youngest son Hong Nam. His grandson, Hong Nam’s son, is named Vo Hoai Nam.

Pen name Van Dinh was also used by Vo Nguyen Giap in a book co-written with Mr. Truong Chinh (later Party Secretary General, Prime Minister and National Assembly Chairman) in 1938.

A popular alias is "Van." This alias was used before the August Revolution. Many generals, military officers and his inferiors usually called him “Mr. Van.” Senior leaders of Vietnam at that time were also commonly known by such aliases sch as "Mr. Than” (Truong Chinh), “Mr. To” (Pham Van Dong), “Mr. Ca” (Nguyen Luong Bang)...

In the uprising order issued on 12/8/1945, Vo Nguyen Giap signed on behalf of the Liberation Commission with this alias.

In Dien Bien Phu campaign, his codename was Hung. His letter sent to President Ho Chi Minh and "Comrade Truong Chinh and the Politburo” presenting his new policy of warfare at Dien Bien Phu dated 30.1.1954, used this name.

At the battlefield of Dien Bien, General Vo Nguyen Giap occasionally wrote important commentaries for the Radio Voice of Vietnam under this name.

In the Central Highlands campaign in March 1975, he used the code name “Chien” while General Van Tien Dung, who was sent to the South to control the campaign, was called “Tuan”. The two generals contacted with each others using these names.

In the last stage of the war against the US, General Giap again used the alias "Van." The historical telegram dated 7/4/1975 sent by General Giap to military units that were moving to the South was signed by this familiar name.

Tran Cham

jackbl

15-10-2013, 11:21 AM

Seven attractive destinations in Vietnam
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VietNamNet Bridge - Beautiful beaches, year-round green tropical parks, mighty rivers, unique fishing villages, special culinary characteristics ... are always the force of gravity of Vietnam in the eyes of foreign travelers.

1. Hanoi

Voted by Smart Travel Asia magazine as one of the most attractive destinations in Asia, Hanoi has its own charm to attract domestic and foreign tourists.

Throughout the thousand years of its eventful history, marked by destruction, wars and natural calamities, Hanoi still preserves many ancient architectural works including the Old Quarter and over 600 pagodas and temples. Famous sites include the One Pillar Pagoda (built in 1049), the Temple of Literature (built in 1070), Hanoi Citadel, Hanoi Opera House, President Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum...

Hanoi also characteristically contains 18 beautiful lakes such as Hoan Kiem Lake, West Lake, and Truc Bach Lake..., which are the lungs of the city, with their surrounding gardens and trees providing a vital source of energy.

Many traditional handicrafts are also practiced in Hanoi including bronze molding, silver carving, lacquer, and embroidery. Hanoi has many famous traditional professional handicraft villages such as Bat Trang pottery village, Ngu Xa bronze casting village, Yen Thai glossy silk...

2. Sa Pa

Cool climate all year round and the beautiful natural landscapes are the most charming features of Sa Pa. Photo: allwomenstalk .

Sapa Vietnam is a favorite attraction to tourists, both domestic and foreign thanks to its beautiful scenery and colorful culture. The French used to consider Sapa as Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam in the early decades of the 20th century. Its naturally gifted beauty keeps attracting more and more people to spend their vacation there since then.

Aside from leisure pace of sightseeing and exploring the diversity of culture in Sapa, this is also an ideal place for more adventurous tourists with many trekking tours available. Or, you can also do some trekking on your own and stay with the hill tribes for an insightful understanding of the ethnic groups here.

April and May are the best time for tourists to watch the most scenic beauties of Sapa, or else it might be cold and foggy before that and rainy after that. During these two peak months, the town is blossoming with pink and white flowers, and green pastures in valleys. The clouds that settle in the valley in early morning would quickly disappear.

Most tourists agree that it would be regretful if the leisure and relaxation time in cool and fresh weather is not accompanied by visiting trips to Sapa's prideful natural beauty spots, such as Ham Rong Mountain, Silver Waterfall, Rattan Bridge, Bamboo Forest and Ta Phin Cave.

Sapa is home to various families of flowers of captivating colors, unique in the vast country. When Tet, the Lunar New Year Festival, comes, the whole township of Sapa is filled with the pink color of peach blossom brought from the vast forests of peach just outside the town. Sapa is regarded as the kingdom of orchids as well.

Foreign tourists are actually fond of scarce and precious specialties of Sapa, such as forest's product, handicrafts, delicacies (smoked meat, "thang co", "cai meo", san lung wine, corn wine, etc.), typical of ethnic minority people.

Local markets are the town's typically cultural element, which are always crowded and joyful, attracting hundreds of visitors. This is the common place for minority groups to gather and exchange goods. Market sessions are also a chance for local people to promenade. No foreign visitor could help joining such a market session, a typical cultural element of Sapa. What’s more, tourists coming to Sapa at weekends have the great chance to learn about local ethnic people's courtship and martial life, through the Sapa love market and wife kidnapping ceremony of the H'Mong group. The ceremony will begin on April 29th.

3. Halong Bay

Imagine 2000 or more islands rising from the emerald waters of the Gulf of Tonkin and you have a vision of breathtaking beauty. Halong translates as ‘where the dragon descends into the sea’, and legend claims the islands of Halong Bay were created by a great dragon from the mountains. As it charged towards the coast, its flailing tail gouged out valleys and crevasses. When it finally plunged into the sea, the area filled with water, leaving only the pinnacles visible.

Designated a World Heritage site in 1994, this mystical landscape of limestone islets is often compared to Guilin in China or Krabi in southern Thailand. In reality, Halong Bay is more spectacular. The bay’s immense number of islands is dotted with wind- and wave-eroded grottoes, and their sparsely forested slopes ring with birdsong.

Beyond a boat cruise, visitors to Halong also come to explore the caves. There are few real beaches in Halong Bay, but Lan Ha Bay has idyllic sandy coves a short boat hop from Cat Ba Town.

Sprawling Halong City is the bay’s main gateway, but the raffish collection of high-rise hotels and karaoke bars is not a great introduction to this incredible site.

Most visitors sensibly opt for tours that include sleeping on a boat in the bay. Some travellers dodge Halong City and head straight for Cat Ba Town, from where trips to less-visited, equally alluring Lan Ha Bay are easily set up. Cat Ba Island can also be a good base for visiting the landscapes of Halong Bay itself.

As the number-one tourist attraction in the northeast, Halong Bay attracts visitors year-round. February to April is often cool and drizzly, and the ensuing fog can make visibility low, but also adds an ethereal air. From May to September tropical storms are frequent, and year round, tourist boats sometimes need to alter their itineraries, depending on the weather. Some tour companies offer full or partial refunds if tours are cancelled; check when you book.

4. Cu Chi Tunnels

Cu Chi Tunnel is 70 km from Ho Chi Minh City in the Northwest. It is miniature battle versatile of Cu Chi’s military and people during the 30-year struggle longtime and fierce to fight invading enemy to receive independence, freedom for motherland. It also is the special architecture lying deeply underground with many stratums, nooks and crannies as complex as a cobweb, having spares for living, meeting and fighting with total lengths over 200 km.

Real legends coming from the Tunnel are over human imaginativeness. Creeping down into the tunnel, only some yards, you can find out why Vietnam, A tiny country could defeat its enemy, the large and richest country in the world. Why Cu Chi, a barren and poor land could face strongly for 21 years to the army crowded many times compared with its force, warlike and equipped modern war weapons and means.

In the fight, Cu Chi people won illustriously. Thanks to systems of tunnel ways, fortifications, combat trenches, soldiers and people of Cu Chi fought very bravely creating glorious feat of arms. The American invaders at first time stepped into Cu Chi land, they had to face so fierce resistances from tunnels from important and very difficult bases that they cried out, “Underground villages”, “Dangerous secret zone”, “cannot see any VC but they appear everywhere”… With its war pasture, Cu Chi Tunnels become a historical war hero of Vietnamese People like a 20th century legend and famous land in the world.

5. Phu Quoc

One of Vietnam’s star attractions, mountainous and forested Phu Quoc is a splendid tropical getaway set with beautiful white-sand beaches and quaint fishing villages.

The tear-shaped island lies in the Gulf of Thailand, 45km west of Ha Tien and 15km south of the coast of Cambodia. At 48km long (with an area of 1320 sq km), Phu Quoc is Vietnam’s largest island.

Phu Quoc is not really part of the Mekong Delta and doesn’t share the delta’s extraordinary ability to produce rice. The most valuable crop is black pepper, but the islanders here have traditionally earned their living from the sea. Phu Quoc is also famous in Vietnam for its production of high-quality fish sauce (nuoc mam).

The island has some unusual hunting dogs, which have ridgebacks, curly tails and blue tongues and are said to be able to pick up their masters’ scent from over 1km away (the nuoc mam their masters eat certainly helps). Unfortunately, the dogs have decimated much of the island’s wildlife.

Despite the impending development (of a new international airport, a golf course and a casino), much of this island is still protected since becoming a national park in 2001. Phu Quoc National Park covers close to 70% of the island, an area of 31, 422 hectares.

Phu Quoc’s rainy season is from July to November. The peak season for tourism is midwinter, when the sky is blue and the sea is calm.

To be continued........

jackbl

15-10-2013, 11:21 AM

6. Mekong River

Vietnam is famous for its two big areas growing rice. The one in the North is the Red River Delta, and the other in the South is the Mekong Delta.

The Mekong Delta is formed from the mighty Mekong River which originated from the Tibetan highland plateau 2,800 miles away. The river makes its way through China, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia and South Vietnam before flowing into the sea. The part of the river running through Vietnam is tore into nine branches and named Cuu Long by Vietnamese locals, which means Nine Dragons to describe the nine branches that terminate the flow of this great river as it is absorbed by the sea.

The locals in Mekong delta live right on the edge of the rivers or canals. Their home structures varied from place to place as they are built conveniently from whatever materials found. Fisheries can be found right under those homes. It can be said that life in the delta is tightly woven with its rivers with floating markets while other activities and businesses are conducted on its banks.

Visiting the Mekong delta, tourists can stop at major cities and towns such as Bac Lieu, Tra Vinh, Ben Tre, My Tho, Chau Doc, Sa Dec, Long Xuyen and Can Tho… Aside from the cities, there are many national parks and nature reserves in the area. Some of the names are Con Dao national park, Lung Ngoc Hoang nature reserve, Mui Ca Mau national park, Nui Cam nature reserve, Phu Quoc national park, Thanh Phu nature reserve, Tram Chim national, etc…

Taking a Mekong river cruise is the best way to experience the local life on the river as well as to enjoy the beautiful scenery along the way. There are many cruise operator offering cruising services for tourists.

The usual itinerary for a Mekong trip is around 5-7 days. The trip often starts from Ho Chi Minh City and then goes down along the Tien River or Hau River. For longer itineraries, a few tourist destinations in Cambodia or Laos can be included in the routes.

7. Hoi An

The ancient town of Hoi An, one of six features in Vietnam granted world heritage status is a very popular destination for tourists. It is renowned for its peacefulness. But when the moon gets fuller in the middle of the lunar month, this cozy town with old houses and small streets looks even more romantic and beautiful as colorful lanterns light the night-time scene.

Long-lived traditions and customs tell tourists a lot about the lifestyles of Hoi An people going way back. Tourists have the chance to learn about such activities of Chinese origin as bai choi or Vietnamese musical bingo. Then there is Chinese chess, earthen-pot breaking while blindfolded and more.

In addition to the beauty of Hoi An, the dedication of local tourism managers have turned the town into a must-visit destination for tourists when they travel around the important central part of Vietnam. That Hoi An can provide tourists with more diversified services and local cultural features makes it even more attractive.

Walking, biking or using a cyclo-pedicab to cruise through the narrow streets is equally enjoyable. Visitors just need to bear in mind that they will need to stop a lot as every corner of the town is likely to attract their admiration.

The more the town is explored, the more enjoyable it is. Tourists are introduced to ancient mossy tile-roofed houses with special architectural features and very Chinese names like Sanh Hien and Phung Hung, the Japanese Bridge, the assembly halls of Chinese from Fujian and Guangdong, the Hong Phat Church, and the house of the Tran family.

Walking along Bach Dang Street by the Hoai River late in the afternoon or sitting at Cua Dai Beach to enjoy seafood in the dreamy light of kerosene lamps is a fantastic experience. With the lamps from afar, Cua Dai Beach looks like a piece of the dark and starry sky. In that atmosphere tourists have mysterious and floating feelings.

Greener rice fields, villages and islets are the new destinations that make Hoi An “a new ancient town." Besides the newly-built resorts at Cua Dai Beach, along the way to this area tourists can enjoy the freshness of the surroundings and the beauty of a picturesque scene with buffalos, fishing boats and spongy waves.

High-speed boats take tourists to Cu Lao Cham, also called Heavenly Islet. There, tourists witness the beauty and wildness of such beaches as Bai Bim, Bai Ong and Bai Chong, as well as take part in activities like exploring coral reefs, swimming, and enjoying seafood.

Compiled by T. Van

jackbl

16-10-2013, 09:21 AM

Vietnam study finds street kids abused sexually, using drugs, urges help
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A., a street child living in Ho Chi Minh City's parks, was approached by some men who got him food and clothes and appeared kind.

They took him to a restaurant and a café for the first time, and around the city ostensibly for him to have fun.

“They treated me nicely,” the 17-year-old said.

And then they raped him, something he did not know happened to boys.

But it was by no means an unusual happening. A study released at a conference in Hanoi Tuesday said that virtually all street children in HCMC (92.5 percent) have been victims of sexual abuse.

The victims usually do not report it to the police due to embarrassment, the feeling of doing something bad, or because they were warned not to complain, according to the authors of the study, the Hanoi-based Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development (MSD) and public health NGO Fontana which has offices in Vietnam and Denmark.

Hoang Thu Trang of MSD said the abuses include hugs and kisses, touching of private parts, and being shown pornography.

The abuse left the victims scarred, even suicidal.

The study also found that 98.3 percent of street children in the city have used substances like alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, heroin, meth, adhesive, or even gasoline at least once.

Usually the sexual abuse and drugs went hand in hand.

A 16-year-old street boy identified only as T.V.H., a sex worker -- the study includes underage sex work in abuse -- told the study team that one time he shared a syringe with his customer.

“If I refuse, they would not pay me.”

The study found that many children do not even realize they are abused.

T.V.H. and D.Q.C., 15, believed that sexual abuse was only when they were forced, not merely because they were underage.

“I worked as a prostitute because only if I worked would I get paid. That is not sex abuse.”

But the boundary was not clear even for C., who became a prostitute because he had been raped.

“I felt ashamed, and decided to just go with it,” he said.

Many children offer sex to get money for drugs.

Adhesive is the most popular addictive substance among the children since they can afford it.

Some children inhale three tubes of adhesive a day, each costing less than a dollar.

They also inhale gasoline since it gives them a higher high than glue.

The study, which approached 120 street children, found that there are around 22,000 of them in the country, most coming from poor provinces and living in large cities.

They are poorly informed and easily get embroiled in dangerous jobs related to prostitution or drug trade.

MSD and Fontana called for better measures to inform street children about rehab centers for addicts, support centers for sex victims, and orphanages.

But they admitted that the children have not received enough help from social workers to believe in them.

One child told the authors of the study: “Those people didn’t help. They just asked questions.”

decent02

17-10-2013, 10:46 AM

What is the correct TV for Fuck Buddy or bed buddy

Ban Cung Giuong - any TV expert can verify :D

jackbl

17-10-2013, 12:06 PM

Ban Cung Giuong - any TV expert can verify :D

Aiyo, u got so many VBs why dun ask them? Or maybe ask Honeyboon??? :D :p

decent02

17-10-2013, 04:32 PM

Aiyo, u got so many VBs why dun ask them? Or maybe ask Honeyboon??? :D :p

Aiyo, how to ask a VB this type of question :D
Honeyboon a good good boy ....dun even know how to ask a gal for overnight ... how to translate :D

jackbl

17-10-2013, 11:29 PM

Lotus Court serves finest dim sum, Cantonese cuisine in exquisite setting
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The Lotus Court Chinese Restaurant is the place to go immerse yourself in the finest of dim sum and Cantonese cuisine.

Lotus Court's interior, while conducive to traditions, is a stylish contemporary tribute to them. The colours chosen for Lotus court (mainly olive green, gold and yellow tones) were selected to underline the Chinese character of the outlet and to create a sense of place. The furniture reflects greatly on its aim to provide a warm and cozy atmosphere that clearly reflects Chinese characteristics and ornaments. The restaurant has used traditional Chinese lacquer paintings to blend with the general theme. Some guests have referred to the restaurant as an art gallery within a superior setting. It’s surely the only one with an open dim sum kitchen, so guests can see all the action from their tables. Private rooms off the main dining room are also available for even more intimate gatherings.

Lotus Court combines an authentic atmosphere with a menu that is vast, with everything from delicate dim sum to roasted meats and live seafood. Guests can experience a different taste treat every night.

Spacious enough to accommodate groups, the space is cleverly configured to promote a sense of coziness, a feeling amplified by knowledgeable and attentive service staff, setting a standard for service that is the talk of the town making it an instant favorite for our loyal local residents as well as a special dining option for hotel guests.

Dim Sum Brunch: Savor all you can eat dim sum brunch every Saturday and Sunday at only VND 270,000++ per person and enjoying a vast selection of dim sum prepared in our show kitchen in front of your eyes. We are happy to be known by the company we keep, and Lotus Court enjoys a huge, regular following of discerning customers from the Phu Nhuan and surrounding districts. For them, our weekend dim sum brunch has become an instant tradition and favorite.

Address: Moevenpick Hotel Saigon, 1st floor, 253 Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Phone: +84 8 3844 9222

Website: www.moevenpick-saigon.com

Operating Hours: Daily, Lunch 11.00 am – 2.30 pm and Dinner 5.30 pm – 10.30 pm

jackbl

17-10-2013, 11:35 PM

Transgender people in Vietnam: P1- True to themselves
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The yearning to become a member of the opposite sex has driven many tormented youths to undergo agonizing transsexual surgeries. Though they’re happy with their new body and true self, most face continued discrimination or alienation from their families and society.

The ordeal begins as soon as they realize they were born with the wrong gender, but doesn’t end with the extremely painful transsexual operation.

As no orthodox medical institution in Vietnam offers the operation, many who can’t afford costly transgender operations in Thailand or Korea have turned to local bogus “doctors” and put their lives at risk by taking hormone-changing pills, having silicon injected into their face and breast, or even undergoing a mastectomy or vasectomy.

The man of the dreams

Ha Duy Linh, 22, from northern Phu Tho province, identifies as a trans man. Linh confided that she vaguely realized she was different from other girls in high school, when she had a secret crush on one of her female teachers and later a female classmate.

“Also, I always felt incomprehensible differences inside my body. Deep inside me, I invariably yearned to do something contrary to myself,” Linh shared.

Preoccupied with her innate differences, Linh turned to the internet. Her findings, paired with a program on the topic she heard on the Voice of Vietnam as well as a seminar she attended two years later, prompted Linh to realize that she has always yearned to be a man.

“It was a revelation for me. I suddenly understood I’m not homosexual; I need to become a real man,” Linh shared.

Since then, Linh began to dress like a male. He has his long hair cut short and wears baggy clothes to hide his curves. He even begged his mother to sell part of their land so that he could afford a transsexual operation in Thailand. His mother was frustrated, while his father strongly forbade him from changing his body.

Without his family’s consent, Linh works as a worker in an industrial zone in Hanoi and rarely visits home. He finds reminders of his original gender disturbing, particularly his menstrual cycles.

“I’m really upset and frustrated and even in crisis sometimes. My aunt and everyone else says I don’t look male or female. I really wish I could live a fulfilling life as a real man,” Linh sadly added.

Despite Linh’s manly dressing style, haircut, and masculine gait and gestures, his soft hands, voice and fair complexion defy his wishes. He recently began taking male hormone pills and saving money to have an ovariectomy in Ho Chi Minh City. These are the simplest and cheapest steps Linh can take for now to begin fulfilling his dream of becoming a real man.

The transgender twins

Since a tender age, a pair of male twins, born into a rich family in Phu Nhuan district in HCMC, have always enjoyed mingling with girls, wearing dresses, braiding their hair, and playing with dolls.

Their parents could never imagine that their sons’ childish hobbies would translate into their joint desire for a sex change once they matured.

When they turned 19, the younger brother made a huge decision. Despite his parents’ strong objections, he contacted his transsexual friends and underwent excruciating operations to become a girl.

“One day, I returned home as a girl, renamed Truc Linh. My parents were stunned with shock while our relatives and neighbors were unsympathetic and harsh,” the younger twin recalled.

Their family received the second blow when three years later the elder twin decided to follow his brother’s footsteps and underwent similar operations.

“We try to ignore everyone’s gossip and harsh jokes, as long as we’re happy with our new bodies and lives. Our parents have gradually accepted us as their daughters. But neighbors and bystanders still maliciously stare and point at us as if we were ogres,” Truc Lam, the elder twin confided.

Truc Linh now stays at her aunt’s home and helps her with loan collecting. Lam earns her living by performing at funerals, as many transgender Vietnamese do. She is also a social worker at the HCMC-based ICS Center, an organization dedicated to supporting and counseling local lesbians, gays and transsexuals.

Yearning for a normal, rewarding life, Lam applied for work at more conventional places, but was met with rejection and malicious jokes. She once worked as a waitress at a Korean restaurant, but was fired after only a few days as the customers discriminated against her and complained.

jackbl

18-10-2013, 11:43 AM

Transgender people in Vietnam: P2 – First steps of the painful journey
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Thailand is believed to be one of the best places for transgender people to go for gender reassignment surgery, but the cost is too great for most Vietnamese transsexuals. Many of them choose cheaper but more dangerous ways to get the body they desire.

Shockingly, many transgender people are taking matters into their own hands, indiscriminately injecting hormone supplements and silicon without first consulting doctors.

Daredevil methods to acheive “the real me”

Aki Tran, 22 is a trans man born with the name Nguyen Thi Truc Phuong. Since she cannot afford surgery, Phuong takes a pill intended for men with weak physiology and injects 250mg of the medicine into her body once a day. After two months, Phuong said she felt slightly more manly and had a deeper voice. Worried about the medicine’s side effects, Phuong had gone through a comprehensive health check before starting this dangerous practice.

However, many other transsexuals simply take the medicine without any prior health examination.

22-year-old trans woman Yuki, whose real name is Le Chau Thanh Tung, has used contraceptive pills everyday to maintain a girl-like figure.

“I inject hormone supplements once a week and take 4 pills per day. The cost of contraceptive medicines has risen from VND6,000/pack to more than VND100,000 (US$5)/ pack due to my income. Sometimes I even take 15 pills a day. The medicine hurts my body so badly; it exhausts me to the point where I can’t stand up after taking it,” Aki shared.

Tu, or Nguyen Van Hung, a friend of Aki, also abuses contraceptive medicine.

“My friends told me that the pills cause pain so I used to take only one pill per day, but now I take 5 pills a day to transform my body faster since no matter how much I use, 1 or 5, the medicine still hurts me,” Tu said.

Silicon – the “magic” substance

Besides taking medicine and hormone supplements, many transgender people also inject silicon into their body, attempting to create curves. They do so without medical consultation, which is very risky. Those who do so are not educated on the dangers of this practice: 22-year-old trans woman Cat Thy believes there is no risk “as long as it’s not injected into bones.”

At the age of 7, Thy realized she was different from her friends. She liked to wear girls’ clothes and play with girls’ toys. Because of this, she experienced painful discrimination from a young age.

Thy quit school when she was 15 and then worked as a transgender performer for a circus troupe in Dong Thap. Upon learning of Thy’s gender identity, a woman in the troupe told her she could implant her breasts and face with silicon to look more like a girl.

“At first she injected silicon into my cheeks. It was terribly painful and my face swelled like a pig but it got better after a couple days,” Thy recalled.

After this, the woman suggested that Thy implant her breasts with silicon, warning that it could be dangerous, as silicon can spill into the heart.

Her deep yearnings to become a girl made potential dangers subside, and Thy allowed the woman to inject silicon into her breasts.

“It hurt so much, I could only pray for the pain to ease,” Thy remembered. “After 4-5 injections, I started to have bigger breasts, and I was extremely happy and forgot about the agonizing pain.”

Since then, Thy became addicted to silicon injection, and injects it into all parts of her body, even her fingers and elbows in an attempt to appear more womanly. She and her friends buy silicon, and inject each other with the harmful substance.

Asked about the dangers of silicon injection, Thy just smiled sadly, saying she’d rather die than be ugly.

“I had to put a lot of silicon into my body to be like this. My body now consists of medicine and silicon. It will take years for it to decompose after I die,” Thy joked, showing her plump, womanly hands.

“I know that cancer is a great danger. I feel than I’m weaker and weaker over the years. My body always hurts when the weather turns cold,” Thy said.

The cost of genital removal, which is around VND75 million – VND100 million (US$3,538 - US$4,717), is far too expensive for Thy.

“Sometimes I just wish I could die but it’s not that easy. I’m now like a mental patient and can’t even cry. I often go to pagodas and pray. I just thought that I was born this way and needed a better life,” she added sadly.

jackbl

19-10-2013, 01:54 PM

Transgender people in Vietnam – P3: No pain, no gain
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Some work hard to earn money to undergo gender reassignment surgery in foreign countries; some choose to cut off their genitalia; some even agree to exchange years of their lives for the chance to live as their desired gender.

Although the gender reassignment surgery process requires preoperative psychological counseling and health examinations, such services are not available in Vietnam, where transsexual surgery is not legal. Thus, local transgender people have created their own community in which they share their experiences to gain knowledge and understanding of the process.

A thousand times more painful than death

According to Lo Lo, 34, a trans woman, a general transsexual process consists of taking hormones and living as the desired gender over the course of 2 years, then undergoing a psychological test before surgery. However, not many transgender Vietnamese follow those steps. Many friends of Lo Lo call to make a reservation for surgery in Thailand, then take a short trip there for surgery, returning to Vietnam soon after.

This simple process leads to a number of regretful consequences.

Bao Chau, a trans woman in Ho Chi Minh City, has a typical story of the agonizing journey to find herself. After returning to Vietnam from Thailand after surgery, she was too ashamed to go to a hospital to get the proper post-surgery care.

“I hired a nurse to take care of me and my new vagina at home. Sometimes the wound would become infected and bleed, and I was forced to be hospitalized, my life hanging by a thread,” Chau recalled. “I hoped my new vagina would be fine so that my all pain wouldn’t be in vain.”

“It was a thousand times more painful than death,” she emotionally remembered.

Lo Lo said she often warns her transsexual friends to stop indiscriminately taking pills and injecting hormones and to wait for approved medical services.

“At present, Vietnam doesn’t have any consulting service for transsexuals. People who have undergone surgery share their experiences for those who haven’t. I have no idea when Vietnam will have a proper consulting service.”

Lo herself is taking contraceptives and injecting herself with hormones every three months to preserve her female body.

“Since the day I started taking pills, my skin grew darker and covered with acne. I also cry and get annoyed easily. Some of my friends have fainted after injecting hormones, while others are too skinny because they diet to look like girls,” Lo shared.

Part-by-part conversion

Those who cannot afford the transsexual surgery fee in other countries are often forced to make the transition slowly.

“My friends usually transform part by part. Trans men often want to remove their ovaries to avoid periods. A friend of mine underwent an ovary removal surgery which cost VND10 million (US$472). If we give them enough money, some doctors will agree to diagnose us with breast cancer so that we can be granted a mastectomy surgery,” said Aki Tran, a trans man.

Tuoi Tre correspondents followed Aki Tran, a trans man, and her friend to a cosmetic clinic on Duong Ba Trac Street in District 8. The clinic’s director informed them that he only offers mastectomy surgery and doesn’t give gender reassignment surgery. After checking their breasts, the doctor declared the price for breast removal would be VND30 million for Aki and VND35 million for her friend, and said they could come for surgery the next day.

The two visited other doctors that day, but the price was always higher than they could afford.

Die young – not a big deal

Jessica, also known as Ca, is famous among transgender people in HCMC due to her successful gender transformation.

Since a very young age, Ca has suffered discrimination from her family and friends. Her family didn’t allow her to meet their friends because they felt ashamed of their “son.” They took her to many hospitals and even invited a shaman into their home, hoping to cure Jessica’s “illness.”

“A doctor even scolded my mother and told her that I was not sick,” Ca shared.

At the age of 19, Ca dropped out of college and moved out of her home since she couldn’t bare the discrimination. “I was discriminated against, jobless, and had to perform at funerals, a job that only pede (discriminating term used to describe transgender people) do. In the eyes of others, the reputation of transgender people like me has only grown worse,” Ca said in tears.

After the tough time, Ca learned makeup and hairdressing to earn money for the biggest dream of her life: traveling to Thailand for gender reassignment surgery. Though Ca had already injected silicon into her breasts to reduce surgery expenses, she still had to borrow money for the trip.

In Thailand, with the advice of some friends, Ca visited a doctor named Thep.

“I was scared at first, but the desire to become a girl encouraged me. I believed that dying young was not a big deal, because we’re transsexuals, and we’re daredevils,” Ca recalled.

“I would rather die ten years earlier than live for ten more years with the pain of not being myself,” Ca responded after hearing the rumor that people who cut off their genitals will lose 10 years of their lives.

Ca’s life now is the dream of many transgender people. She’s living as a girl and has a stable job as a makeup artist. Ca said she must make money to pay the debts she owes for her surgery, but is lucky to have a job; many other transsexuals have to prostitute themselves to pay “the debt from their previous life.”

jackbl

21-10-2013, 12:42 AM

Transgender people in Vietnam: P4 – The beauty queen
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We met Mai Ngoc over dinner at a cheap restaurant before she rushed to work at a night club in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2010, Ngoc was crowned Miss Angel in a transgender beauty pageant held yearly in the city for the transgender community.

Since then, show business has occasionally opened doors for her. She has been offered small transgender roles in films, appeared in music videos or modeled for modest entertainment events. But her main income comes from working as a bar hostess, a job that helps support herself and her family.

“People assume my beauty pageant title would give me a comfortable life, but no. I work really hard every day to earn a living,” she said.

Lonely childhood

Born as Phan Huu Loc into a big family in Binh Dong, District 8 in Ho Chi Minh City, Ngoc said she did not know who her father was until recently. Like many city children, she grew up on the street as her mother worked tirelessly every day to feed her family.

At 10, Ngoc started working to share the financial burden with her mother. But there seemed to be no one that could understand her personal burdens. Selling lottery tickets on streets after school, she grew up with mounting doubts about her life and confusion over her identity. Isolated at school for her differences, she couldn’t confide in anyone that her biggest dream was to become a real woman.

In hard times, Ngoc thought of seeking her father, “but I gave up, believing it would be hard for him to accept me as I am, even after I found out who he was,” she said.

By the time she turned 19, Ngoc already looked like a girl: she dressed in girls’ clothes, injected hormones into her body, and grew out her hair. But that was not enough. With financial help from her foreign boyfriend, combined with what she had saved up over the years, Ngoc made a life-changing trip to Thailand to have the sex reassignment surgery that completely turned her into a woman. Not knowing of the purpose of her son’s trip, Ngoc’s mother welcomed her new daughter back in tears, but was ultimately supportive of her decision.

“People assumed that my life would be much easier post-surgery, but it is not. When you are born into a body like mine, not a real man nor a real woman, it’s hard. I have to give up many things, because of social stigma, of discrimination, etc.” she said.

For a better future

Ngoc’s working day starts at 9 every night and ends around 5 the next morning. She drinks, talks, and flirts with her customers. That she used to be a man gives her a clear advantage over her colleagues, besides her beauty and pageant title. ‘They are always curious about a transsexual like me,” she said.

Drained after work, she drags herself back to her tiny rented room every morning and throws herself into bed. “I sleep like a log. I need to so that I can wake up later to work. And then the cycle repeats again, day after day.”

The highlights of her routine only come when people call and offer modeling or acting jobs, which she loves doing more than anything. “It is a way out for me, to escape from the harsh realities of my life.”

But it is a competitive business, much more so for people like Ngoc. Show organizers disregard her once they know of her past, because of “my complicated personal identification and the social stigma still attached to transsexuals,” she said.

Once Ngoc was offered a female role in a major movie shot in Ho Chi Minh City, and the prospect of a brighter future excited her for days. But despite the director’s wishes, its producer later refused to let a transsexual actress play.

“The director said he will contact me if he has a transsexual role. I think it makes sense that they didn’t give me the chance. It is a major film that will be screened for millions of people. Who knows how the crowd will react to somebody like me,” she said, calm and accepting.

Fortunately, there are better days. This month, Ngoc is preparing for her first trip abroad for a modeling job. Ngoc hopes she can invest the money she earns into a proper job for a more stable life.

Already good at doing nails, she is learning to become a make-up artist.

“I need to plan ahead so that when I can’t live off my looks any more, I can still support myself. With all the medical treatments I have been through, you know how my health has and will be affected. This look won’t stay forever, either.”

For now, she is still working at the bar until the day she leaves, earning a bit more money to help her mother and siblings out. Asked about her personal life, Ngoc said “I just broke up with my boyfriend. He, too, couldn’t deal with the pressure that comes with dating a transsexual.” She waved goodbye and was gone.

jackbl

26-10-2013, 07:44 AM

Big biz to sell cigarettes in vn :)

Vietnam smokes 4.17 billion packs of cigarettes a year
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Vietnam consumed a total of 4.174 billion packs of cigarettes in 2012, the Vietnam Tobacco Association reported Tuesday.

The shocking figure was released at a conference intended to implement a national program to combat smuggled and contraband cigarettes in Hanoi.

Vietnam’s cigarette consumption has been on the rise since 2010. Cigarette consumption recorded in 2010 and 2011 was 3.986 billion packs and 4.131 billion packs respectively.

In the first eight months of this year, tobacco consumption reached 2.760 billion packs, the association said.

Smuggled cigarettes are another headache for authorities, the association added.

Last year some 900 million cigarette packs were illicitly brought to Vietnam, accounting for 21.6 percent of the domestic cigarette consumption of 2012.

JET and HERO brands account for 90 percent of the smuggled products. Since 2012 they were joined by ESSE, complicating the domestic market further.

The smuggled products caused huge financial damage to the country.

With some 800 million cigarette packs smuggled on an annual basis, the state budget loses up to VND4.2 trillion worth of taxes.

The illicit products also cost the tobacco growing areas 17,000 tons of materials and 39,000 jobs of local growers, who also lose some VND170 billion of earnings per year.

Vietnamese cigarette makers also lose up to VND250 billion of profits due to the smuggled products every year.

Vu Van Cuong, chairman of Vinataba, the state-run cigarette maker, said the problem is not because local products are of lower quality than the illicit counterparts.

It is because of the exorbitant special consumption tax of 65 percent, plus other high taxes, which makes domestic products less competitive as they bear higher prices.

Forces to fight against smuggled products are funded VND3-9 billion a year, but not so many cases have been detected.

The seized and destroyed products only account for 1 percent of the real amount of cigarettes illegally brought to the country, according to the tobacco association.

This is because demand for smuggled cigarettes remains high, while authorities do not have the means to curb the sophisticated tricks of the smugglers.

Last year global market research company Euromonitor International also reported that Vietnam is the top beer-drinking nation in the Southeast Asian region, followed by Thailand and the Philippines.

Vietnamese drinkers put down 2.6 billion liters of beer in 2011, according to the report.

In 2010, the Euromonitor International forecast that beer consumption (by volume) in the Vietnamese market would grow rapidly.

Vietnamese consumed 1.6 billion liters of beer in 2009, a surge of 56 percent over 2004.

jackbl

26-10-2013, 03:33 PM

37岁越南单亲妈妈，6年内嫁3个狮城男！

这名越南女在越南未婚先孕后遭男友抛弃，于是以假名来新工作养女儿，最终在申请长期探访准证时因提供假资料被揭发，从而爆出她来新后的3段婚姻。

37岁的阮坛冬，从2008年到2012年之间犯下11项罪，控方以其中三项罪名提控她，分别是无相关工作准证、在新加坡进行无执照的汇款生意，及在申请长期探访准证时没有诚实作答。

求情绘述坎坷感情路

被告的代表律师代她求情时，绘述她过去的坎坷感情路，她在2002年在越南未婚先孕，男友得悉她有孕后抛弃她。

jackbl

27-10-2013, 02:28 AM

Transgender people in Vietnam: P5 – A new life for Phong
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It was the day before Le Quoc Phong’s sex reassignment surgery at the international Piyavate Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. With financial help from her foster father, she had finally made it to Thailand with her sister and a few friends for the long-awaited procedure.

Before the surgery, blood and urine tests were taken, as well as medications to induce vomiting. In her last minutes before surgery, Phong wrote on her Facebook wall about the harsh journey she had been through: “Born into a big family of many siblings, I’ve known I wanted to be a girl ever since I was a child. I knew I was one inside, but it was hard even to put these thoughts into words. I had thought I would have to live the rest of my life like this…”

After years of denying her own identity and burying her secrets, Phong finally learned to live as she was and that it was not wrong to be the person she wanted to be. “It was not easy accepting my own self. Having been through it all – pain, self-hatred, self-pity, insecurities, shame--I decided to live the way I wanted to,” she wrote.

In 2010, upon graduating from college, Phong came out to her family and told them her plan to go to Thailand for gender reconstruction surgery. While Phong’s father reacted with anger, her mother was calm but deeply hurt. It took them a long time to accept their child and support her for the next great challenge.

In 2011, Phong met make-up artist Le Duy, a trans-woman who helped Phong realize her dream. Following Duy’s advice, Phong underwent psychological tests, a health checkup, and took hormonal medications to prepare for the operation.

March 14, 2013

After a 24-hour wait, the much-awaited surgery finally took place, granting Phong the life she had always wanted. After waking up from the one-hour procedure, she wrote on Facebook: “It is over now, I have just woken up. I feel so happy now that I have become the real ME. Although it hurts so so much!”

The status was also a message for her family, especially her mother. “Please don’t worry about me. Mom, I have become your daughter now. Your old son will always be with you, you just have another daughter,” she wrote.

The first week after the surgery, Phong was bed-ridden and all she could eat was plain rice porridge. In the second week, her doctor allowed her to practice walking again. “Every step hurt,” she recalled, “it was so painful that all I could do was lie in exactly the same spot on the bed.”

On her fourteenth day, with the help of her doctor, Phong started having vaginal dilation, a process required for all trans-women after sex reassignment surgery. This procedure must be done for life or else the reconstructed sexual organ will ‘close,’ but right after the operation, “the pain is unbearable”, said Phong. The doctor gave her a 16-centimeter glass dilator for the everyday routine, “which is like my daily torture”.

“Think of it like a skin ulcer you must poke a stick into every day. Now you know how it feels,” she recalled.

Three weeks after the surgery, Phong and her sister returned to their hometown, Quang Nam. They knew that airport securities would probably not allow Phong to board the plane because she now looked nothing like the person on her personal identification card.

Fortunately, after her sister’s explanation, airport officers were understanding and let them pass security checkpoints with heart-warming greetings and encouraging comments on her new look. “That was a very moving experience,” Phong shared, “that they held no prejudice against a person like me.”

“I was in tears and could only mumble that I will be a good person to thank them and show my appreciation.”

Since Phong came back, things have changed for her and she is still getting used to her new life as a woman. “From dressing up, to walking, to taking medications, to the painful dilation practice every day,” Phong shared.

Asked why she went to such extraordinary lengths to become a woman, Phong simply said, “I didn’t choose to be like this. I wish I could be just a normal man and didn’t have to go through all of this. But I have to accept who I am. I am a girl and I am happy I can be one now.”

jackbl

27-10-2013, 02:33 AM

Transgender people in Vietnam: P6 – Social outcasts?
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Medical intervention can fulfill the emotional and physical needs of many trans-men and women, but how will these changes be embraced by our legal system? Have their wishes to lead a normal life been considered at all in Vietnam?

As an ID is required in almost any daily activity in our modern society, many transgender people in Vietnam still find it hard to do even the most basic tasks, from opening a bank account to traveling or obtaining a driver’s license. This is because the government has yet to legally allow sex reassignment surgery and have it recognized in official documentations. Successful cases, if any, are only exceptions in which there is considerable flexibility and circumvention from officials.

39-year-old Pham Le Quynh Tram is a school teacher who spent years struggling to obtain a new official identification. Before her sex reassignment surgery in Thailand, she was Pham Van Hiep from Chon Thanh, Binh Phuoc.

For over a year, she frequented the People’s Committee of Binh Phuoc Province to apply for a new ID and other relevant documents.

“I was rejected every single time I went there. But I was stubborn, and came so many times that they all knew me,” she said.

Her tireless efforts were fruitful after a year and a month later, when an official finally told her that the People’s Committee could handle the process at district level.

She then did as instructed. The papers required by the People’s Comittee of Chon Thanh District included medical proof to confirm her new sexuality and a verified translated certificate of the transsexual surgery provided by her hospital in Thailand. It may sound easy, but the process was time-consuming and at times confusing to her as there were no clear and coherent guidelines.

After all the obstacles, on the day she received her new official identification with a brand new female name, “I burst into tears,” she said, “Back when it didn’t show who I’d changed into, it was really difficult for me. Now I won’t have to explain and prove it to people everywhere I go.”

Not as fortunate as Tram, Jessica still has to bear the male name Nguyen Huu Toan on her new ID, although her gender is already changed to Female. The application process was not easy for her either, as she faced clear discrimination and lack of cooperation from government officers who handle this type of process and documentation.

“I hope one day the law will grant people like us an appropriate process of re-identification. I hope I can change my name one day, get married and live with the person I love,” Jessica said.

Make-up artist Le Duy, who has yet to obtain a new identification card, has to face the same tiresome identification issues every time she travels.

“I am held at security many times. No matter how I explain it, usually the officers can’t decide and have to ask for their bosses. Then comes the long process of showing them my old ID and my surgery certificate from the Thai hospital. Then they send me to a closed room for a full body search. I’m so tired of it,” she shared.

The same problems arised when she was pulled over by a police officer for a minor traffic violation. She was only allowed to go once she agreed to leave her motorbike with the police, and rushed home to grab her surgery certificate to prove what her ID could not.

“Ever since then, I do not go anywhere without that piece of paper. I have to have it with me!”

To avoid the great obstacles involved with these applications, many trans-men and women opt to pay money to have fake documents made, or bribe government workers to simplify the process or shorten the waiting period.

The lack of legislation on this particular issue not only causes great inconvenience, but clearly marginalizes many of the transgender community in our society, as their social and human rights are not recognized or protected. They lose out on many things, including stable job opportunities, medical care, and even the ability to vote.

To earn a living, many have to choose unprofessional or hazardous jobs that also give them little to no security and stability. Thus, instead of being encouraged to have a voice and more active role in our society, they are isolated and treated as outcasts.

Isn’t it time something is done about this?

jackbl

27-10-2013, 03:22 PM

Vietnamese doctor throws customer's body into river
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A doctor in Hanoi has been suspected of throwing the body of a woman who died after a cosmetic surgery at his own beauty salon into a river, local police said.

Nguyen Manh Tuong, 40, owner of Cat Tuong beauty salon located on Hai Ba Trung district, was arrested on Tuesday on murder charges.

Besides running the salon, Tuong works for the state-owned Bach Mai hospital in the Vietnam's capital.

Police in Hanoi held a press conference the same day during which Colonel Giap Van Duong, chief of the Hanoi Criminal Investigation Department, revealed many details of the murder.

According to the senior police officer, Huyen, the victim, came to Cat Tuong beauty salon to undergo a breast implant surgery on Saturday morning (Oct. 19). She was anesthetized by three nurses including Le Ngoc Van, Bui Thi Hoa, and Thu before being operated on by Tuong.

After the surgery, Huyen had difficulty breathing and even started foaming at the mouth. The nurses injected her with some unidentified medicine. But her body later turned blue. Tuong then gave her oxygen and other emergency treatment but failed to save her life.

To cover up the crime, Tuong instructed his employee Dao Quang Khanh, a security guard at his salon, to leave Huyen's scooter on Co Linh street in Long Bien district’s Thach Ban ward which is far away from his salon. The duo later transported Huyen’s body into Tuong’s car to Thanh Tri Bridge and threw it into Hong (Red) River.

Colonel Duong added that at 23pm on October 19, Vu Van Tuan, a resident in Thach Ban ward, found the victim’s bike and handbag. Tuan found two ATM cards, one cell-phone, and an ID card named Le Thi Thanh Huyen in her handbag.

Tuan contacted Huyen’s husband using the victim’s cell-phone to inform him of the case.

Huy, her husband, told investigators that Huyen left home at 8:45am on October 19. After receiving the phone call from Tuan, Huy and other family members managed to look for her everywhere but did not succeed in so they reported her missing to local police.

Initial investigations found that Huyen told her co-workers at a travel firm based in Hanoi that she wanted to undergo a cosmetic surgery to increase the size of her breasts.

According to some reports, Huy also found a receipt issued by Cat Tuong beauty salon in his wife’s clothes. And based on this tip, local police summoned Tuong and his employees for questioning. Tuong later confessed to police that he threw Huyen's body into the river to destroy the traces of crime.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, chief inspector of the Hanoi Health Department, told Tuoi Tre on Tuesday that Cat Tuong beauty salon offered many cosmetic services which were not licensed by authorities and charged from VND30 to 60 million (US$1,442 to $2,845) each.

As of 7pm on Oct. 22, police announced they have just arrested security guard Dao Quang Khanh, Dr. Tuong’s accomplice in the murder. Before that, police issued a warrant for the arrest of Khanh and summoned 15 employees at Cat Tuong salon to determine whether or not they are involved into the case.

jackbl

27-10-2013, 03:23 PM

Search for body dumped by doctor into river continues
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Concerned agencies are looking for the body of a woman who died after a botched cosmetic surgery at a Hanoi-based beauty salon. Her doctor threw her body into the Hong (Red) River after her death.

At 7:00 23/10 morning, the victim’s body had not been found and rescuers and the victim’s relatives are continuing their search.

The victim is Le Thi Thanh Huyen, 37, who lived at 36 Hang Thiec Street, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. The doctor is Nguyen Manh Tuong, 40, the owner of Cat Tuong beauty salon in Hanoi, who was arrested on Tuesday on murder charges.

Tuong is a doctor at the Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, one of the most well-known hospitals in Vietnam.

After hearing that Tuong had thrown Huyen’s body into the river, the victim’s relatives hired motorboats to search for her body on the river.

Pham Duc Quang, 53, the victim’s uncle, told Tuoi Tre in tears, “Huyen is a very good-natured woman. On October 19, she said she took her son to school and was going to a beauty salon, but she did not return.

T, Huyen’s sister, said, “In the late evening of October 19, a man called her husband to say that her motorbike and handbag had been found on a street. Upon realizing that she had been thrown into the river, all of us were astonished.”

The man who alerted Huyen’s husband is Vu Van Tuan, of Hanoi’s Long Bien District. Tuan found Huyen’s motorbike abandoned on Co Linh Street in Thach Ban Ward, with the key to the vehicle still in place and a handbag hanging on the handlebars.

Cat Tuong Beauty Salon in Hanoi, where Le Thi Thanh Huyen died after a cosmetic surgery on October 19, 2013 (Photo: Tuoi Tre)

Tuan opened the bag and found two mobile phones, two ATM cards, and an ID card in the name of Le Thi Thanh Huyen. Tuan contacted Huyen’s husband, Nguyen Huu Huy, using the victim’s mobile phone to inform him of his discovery.

As previously reported, Huyen came to Cat Tuong beauty salon on Saturday morning, October 19, to have abdominal liposuction and breast lift surgery.

After being anesthetized by three nurses, she underwent aesthetic operations performed by Dr Tuong from 12 pm until 4 pm.

Thirty minutes after the surgery, Huyen had difficulty breathing and started foaming at the mouth. Dr Tuong gave her an injection and she appeared to recover. But at 5:45 pm, Tuyen’s body suddenly turned blue and her blood pressure could not be measured. Tuong put her on a respirator and gave her a cardiotonic but could not save her.

Under Tuong’s instructions, Dao Quang Khanh, a security guard at his salon, left Huyen's scooter on Co Linh street, far away from his salon. The two men later carried Huyen’s body into Tuong’s car to Thanh Tri Bridge and threw it into the Hong River.

After investigation, police arrested Tuong and Khanh yesterday morning, October 22.

The police are continuing their investigation of the case.

At a press briefing held this morning by Bach Mai Hospital about the case, Do Doan Loi, a deputy director of the hospital, said the hospital's management has suspended Dr Tuong and set up a working team to coordinate with police in their investigation.

jackbl

27-10-2013, 03:27 PM

Please be take note when u heard your bx/gf wants to do surgeries ............

Killer doctor operates illegally; body dumped into river still not found
================================================== ==================================
Cat Tuong Beauty Salon, at 45 Giai Phong Street, Hai Ba Trung District, Hanoi, where a woman died recently from botched surgery, has been found to be operating illegally.

After her death on the evening of October 19, the woman’s body was dumped into the Hong River by the facility’s owner, Dr Nguyen Manh Tuong. By 24/10 morning, the victim’s body has still not been found.

Colonel Duong Van Giap, head of the Hanoi Social Crime Investigation Police Department, told Tuoi Tre that Dr Tuong had not filed an application to the Hanoi Health Department for a license for offering cosmetic surgeries to customers.

Therefore, the cosmetic surgery services such as the abdominal liposuction and breast lift surgery performed on the victim are illegal, Giap said.

Nguyen Viet Cuong, chief inspector of Hanoi Health Department, also told Dan Tri news website that Cat Tuong has not been licensed by the Hanoi Health Department to carry out cosmetic surgeries.

“This beauty salon has been operating illegally,” Cuong said.

Cuong emphasized that all licensed beauty salons must operate within their license.

On its website www.cattuong.org, Cat Tuong has been advertised as a reputable and reliable beauty salon in Hanoi headed by Dr Manh Tuong, who has 14 years of experience as a cosmetic surgeon. A series of beauty services are advertised on the website.

After 3 pm on October 22, after Dr Tuong and his salon’s security guard were arrested, the site was no longer accessible.

Dr Tuong is a doctor who has worked at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi since 2006. This is one of the most reputable hospitals in Vietnam.

Tuong has been suspended from the hospital for investigation, said Do Doan Loi, a deputy director of the hospital.

As previously reported, Le Thi Thanh Huyen, 37, came to the salon on October 19 to have abdominal liposuction and breast lift surgery. After being anesthetized, she underwent aesthetic operations performed by Dr Tuong from 12 pm until 4 pm.

Thirty minutes after the surgery, Huyen had difficulty breathing and started foaming at the mouth. Dr Tuong gave her an injection and she appeared to recover. But at 5:45 pm, Tuyen’s body suddenly turned blue and her blood pressure could not be measured. Tuong put her on a respirator and gave her a cardiotonic but could not save her.

Tuong and Dao Quang Khanh, a security guard at his salon, carried Huyen’s body into Tuong’s car to Thanh Tri Bridge and threw it into the Hong River.

After investigation, police arrested Tuong and Khanh on October 22.

Body remains unfound

By this morning, October 24, the body of the victim has yet to be found, despite great efforts by concerned agencies and the victim’s relatives who have hired motorboats to search for the body on the river.

Colonel Giap said his department has sent 15 officers to take part in the search for the body, while Hanoi Waterway Police Department also said its has assigned a team and a patrol boat to look for the victim.

Hanoi police and the victim’s relatives have also distributed leaflets regarding the case to residents along the river, asking them to provide any related information they may have.

Yesterday the victim’s family received some information about a floating body seen in Hanoi and Nam Dinh province, but after examination, there was no corpse was found, Colonel Giap said.

What charge for Dr Tuong?

According to investigators, finding the body will help them clarify if Huyen died before or after being thrown into the river by Tuong and his accomplice. Such a clarification is necessary for police to decide an exact charge for Tuong.

Specifically, if a forensic autopsy on the body shows that there is water in the victim’s chest or abdomen, this means the victim was still alive when she was dumped into the river. In this case, Tuong will be charged with “murder” in pursuant to Article 93 of the Penal Code.

If the autopsy shows that the victim had died before being thrown into the river, Tuong can be charged with “accidentally causing human death due to breach of professional or administrative regulations,” under Article 99 of the Code or with “breaching regulations on medical examination and treatment…” according to Article 242 of the Code.

In the event that the victim’s body is not found, it will be difficult for law agencies to prosecute Tuong for murder charges, the Investigation Agency of Hanoi Police said.

jackbl

27-10-2013, 03:33 PM

More victims of doctor dumping client’s body hospitalized
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Five more patients of Dr. Nguyen Manh Tuong, who had thrown the body of a woman who died following a cosmetic surgery at his own beauty salon into a river, have been given checkups and hospitalized.

According to Dr. Nguyen Huy Tho, former head of Hospital 108’s Plastic Surgery Department, two of them had their nose bridge raised and thigh fat taken out at Tuong’s Cat Tuong salon and recently showed complications.

Tho added that he and his staff are willing to provide checkups and counseling to any of Tuong’s patients.

Despite the tremendous efforts by professional divers to search for the body of 37-year-old Le Thi Thanh Huyen, which was thrown into the Hong (Red) river by Tuong and his security guard, it remained nowhere to be found. Several who claimed to be psychics also offered help with the search but too failed to locate Huyen’s body.

The police and the victim’s family will expand the search scope to Yen Lenh bridge in Hung Yen province or even further, using both professional divers and nets.

Some experts said that without the body, it would be difficult to charge Tuong with murder as the cause of Huyen's death couldn't be determined. They said that if the victim was still alive when Tuong dumped her into the river, he would be charged with murder. Otherwise, he would be charged with negligence in medical operations only.

Investigators also found that Tuong’s wife, who is also a doctor, did receive a call from him and learned of Huyen’s death. She persuaded Tuong to report the incident to the police, but he refused and dumped the body to cover up his crime.

Tuong, 40, owner of Cat Tuong beauty salon located in Hai Ba Trung district, was arrested some days ago on murder charges. Tuong also works for state-owned Bach Mai hospital in the Vietnam's capital.

According to the police, Huyen came to Cat Tuong salon to undergo a breast implant surgery on Oct. 19 morning. She was anesthetized by three nurses before being operated on by Tuong.

Following the surgery, Huyen had much difficulty breathing and started foaming at the mouth. The nurses injected her with some unidentified medicine, but her body soon turned blue. Tuong then gave her oxygen and other emergency treatment but failed to save her life.

To cover up the crime, Tuong instructed a security guard at his salon to leave Huyen's scooter far away from his salon. The two then transported Huyen’s body to Thanh Tri Bridge in Tuong’s car and threw it into the Hong River.

Huyen’s death has sparked concerns and outcry among the public about Tuong’s unqualified cosmetic surgery skills and worrying medical ethics. His beauty salon offered many cosmetic services which were not licensed by authorities and charged from VND30 to 60 million (US$1,442 to $2,845) each.

A few days after the incident, many similarly unlicensed facilities have been found operating in the capital. Many obtain licenses to offer skin care and makeup services only, not cosmetic surgeries.

The Ministry of Health has also ordered comprehensive inspections at all beauty shops nationwide

jackbl

28-10-2013, 10:07 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Learn Awesome Vietnamese Forest Animal Vocabulary!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYZGgOk-gYA

jackbl

31-10-2013, 11:41 PM

Vietnam to welcome the 90 millionth citizen on November 1
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VietNamNet Bridge - On the morning of November 1, the 90 millionth baby of Vietnam will be celebrated at the Hanoi-based Central Maternity Hospital. The event is held by the Ministry of Health and the General Department of Population and Family Planning.

To welcome this special event, on November 1-2, the General Department of Population and Family Planning will organize three major programs: Welcoming the 90 millionth baby born at the Central Maternity Hospital, a walking parade with the theme "90 million steps of Lac Hong posterity" and the "90 million loving hearts" music show.

The walking parade will be held on the morning of November 2 on the Truong Sa - Hoang Sa road in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. It aims to represent the spirit of unity, the determination of the Vietnamese people with the participation of over 1,000 people representing the Ministry of Health, the General Department of Population and Family Planning, HCM City Party Committee and People's Committee, departments and agencies and representatives of the medical and population officers.

The music show will take place at 8pm on November 2 at the Hanoi Opera House and will be aired live on the Vietnam Television (VTV). The show includes two parts: Part 1 - the origin of Vietnamese and the process to build and protect the country in difficult times; Part 2 - Vietnam in new stages of development.

The show aims to release the messages about the achievements, opportunities and challenges of Vietnam when the population has reached 90 million and about love and pride for the country.

Mai Nguyen

jackbl

31-10-2013, 11:42 PM

Most businesses in Vietnam choose to pay bribes
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Six out of ten businesses operating in Vietnam admit they must pay costly ‘unofficial fees,’ and yet most of them choose to pay under table through their own initiative.

The revelation was made by deputy chief inspector Tran Duc Luong at a workshop seeking to enhance business engagements by promoting integrity in Hanoi on Wednesday.

Luong said most businesses in Vietnam are small-sized enterprises that lack a professional administrative management basis, and thus “pay inadequate attention to the need of following the transparency code of conduct in relationships with regulatory agencies and partners.”

The deputy chief inspector said 60 percent of businesses criticize the exorbitant ‘unofficial money’ they must pay.

“Thirty percent say they have to pay bribes following officials’ extortions or requests, while 70 percent admit they do it without being asked,” Luong said.

Speaking at the event, British Ambassador to Vietnam Antony Stokes wondered if it is really necessary to bribe to be successful in Vietnam.

And the answer, according to what he learned from two similar workshops previously held in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City, is that it is indeed “not necessary,” Stokes said.

Many businesses shared their policies and initiatives to fight against corruption during the Da Nang and HCMC conferences, he added.

The “Enhancing business engagements by promoting integrity in doing businesses in Vietnam” workshop is co-organized by the State Inspectorate of Vietnam, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the UK Embassy in Vietnam.

It is held in preparation for the annual anti-corruption talk to be hosted on November 12.

The workshop will convene again on November 1 to give businesses an opportunity to voice their opinions regarding the issue.

jackbl

31-10-2013, 11:46 PM

Be careful if u are doing this ........

Illegal marriage broker for Chinese seized on spot
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Police have detained two Vietnamese women for illegally organizing a matchmaking session in Ho Chi Minh City for Chinese men to select local women as their prospective wives.

The incident occurred at 6 am at an eatery at the Vuon Lai Tenement in Phu Tho Hoa Ward, Tan Phu District in HCMC, where a “meeting” was held for three Chinese men to meet in the flesh three Vietnamese young women for prospective marriages, through the arrangement of a female broker.

The three women hail from poor families in the southwestern region.

After examination, police detained the broker and her female interpreter for illegally providing marriage-brokering services.

Many similar cases have previously happened in different locations.

On December 28, 2012, officers from the Can Tho City Immigration Department caught seven Chinese men meeting four Vietnamese women in a hotel room through their matchmakers who organized the meeting to earn fees from the Chinese.

On October 25, 2012, Ho Chi Minh City police arrested a Vietnamese couple who illegally provided marriage brokering services to Chinese men.

That day the police raided Thu Nghia Hotel in Binh Tan District, where To Van Tai, 57, and his wife Nguyen Thi Truc, 29, arranged a matchmaking session for four Vietnamese women and two Chinese men.

Tai, confessed to the police that he had been involved in the illegal marriage brokerage business since 2009.

Tai said he pocketed US $400 for each successful brokerage, while his wife, who acted as an interpreter, charged each man $100 for her services.

jackbl

02-11-2013, 07:36 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - All the Joy of Learning Vietnamese Begins Right Here!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vDkVb9OTOo

jackbl

04-11-2013, 12:46 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - Would Your Vietnamese Skills Help You Out of This Situation?!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQb5H2pydG4

jackbl

04-11-2013, 12:55 AM

9 bad habits of Vietnamese traffic police
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There are nine common bad habits that traffic police should avoid in order not to be hated by the public, a survey shows.

The survey was conducted by a team of four led by Associate Professor Huynh Van Son, a psychologist and deputy chairman of Vietnam Psychological Association.

Assoc Prof. Son said they made the survey by observing on-duty traffic police at check-points in districts 3, 7, 12 and Nha Be district in Ho Chi Minh City and interviewing police officers, management officials, and civilians.

The psychologist showed the nine habits at a communication skills training class intended for traffic police force in HCMC where Son was invited as the main speaker.

The class organized by HCMC Road and Railway Police Department in late October aims at helping traffic officers keep appropriate manners when in contact with the public to improve their image.

Following are the 9 bad habits of traffic cops:

1. Don’t care about the age of people they are talking to

2. We have power, so it is not necessary to care about people’s feeling

3. Use informal, derogatory pronouns for first and second persons when talking with the public like “mày” and “tao”

4. Often say: a violation is a violation, no need to explain

5. We are the law. So, if you violate the law, you have wronged me

6. Indulge in red tape, show frustration at the public

7. Procrastinating and bureaucratic behaviors

8. Think and behave in a wrong way: It’s ok that we [police] drive fast because we are on duty.

9. That’s what we say and we are not able to correct it

jackbl

06-11-2013, 01:30 AM

One third of Vietnamese youths do not use contraceptive measures
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Unexpected pregnancy remains a big problem as 34.6 percent of young Vietnamese people aged 20-24 do not use contraceptive measures, according to statistics announced on Monday.

The figures were released at a ceremony held in Hanoi on Monday to introduce the State of World Population 2013 Report issued by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

The event was jointly organized by the UNFPA and the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Central Adolescent Center, attracting the participation of more than 300 young people in the capital.

According to the report, some 7.3 million adolescent girls give birth each year worldwide, of whom 2 million are under 15. If current trends continued, this number could rise to 3 million a year in 2030.

Every day in developing countries, 20,000 girls below age 18 give birth. Nine in 10 of these births occur within marriage or a union. This has consequences on the health, education, employment and rights of an untold millions of girls, the report said.

In Vietnam, the rate of unexpected pregnancy and unsafe abortion remains high among young women, as 35.4 percent of adolescents aged 15-19 do not use contraceptive measures. Among young people aged 20-24, the rate is 34.6 percent.

In 2011, 46 in every 1,000 adolescents in Vietnam have children. This rate is higher than those for many other groups of population, including people with low-education background and ethnic minority people.

In every region in the world, “impoverished, poorly educated and rural girls” were more likely to get pregnant than their wealthier, more educated and more urban counterparts, the report said.

Immature mothers will have to suffer serious and prolonged consequences, physically and socially, resulted from early pregnancy.

Meanwhile, society often blamed “only the girl” for getting pregnant, said UNFPA executive director Babatunde Osotimehin.

“The reality is that adolescent pregnancy is most often not the result of a deliberate choice, but rather the absence of choices and of circumstances beyond a girl’s control. It is a consequence of little or no access to school, employment, quality information and healthcare,” he said.

The UNFPA report called for actions that “empower girls, uphold their basic human rights, and put them on equal footing with boys” to reduce the number of adolescent girls getting pregnant annually.

It considers education as one of the priority solutions to curb the trend of early pregnancy and protect girls’ human rights and well-being.

Girls who remained in school longer were less likely to become pregnant. Education also reduced the chances of child marriages and it delayed childbearing, eventually leading to healthier births, the reports said.

jackbl

14-11-2013, 12:50 AM

Vietnamese favor super-expensive mobile phones
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VietNamNet Bridge – Having super-expensive mobile phone collections is the hobby of the rich. Many people now can afford the mobile phones worth a fortune.

Luxury mobile phone is small, light and portable, which can be put into the pocket. However, it is very heavy in value.

The owner of a business has reportedly bought a Vertu mobile phone at VND2 billion, the sum of money with which one could buy a two floor house in Phu Nhuan or Go Vap districts in HCM City.

Despite the economic recession, the number of super rich men in Vietnam keeps increasing. A consultancy firm and a foreign bank have released the report about the members of the “super rich men’s club” – those, who have the assets of $30 million at least, showing that Vietnam now has 195 super rich men with the total assets of $20 billion, much higher than the last year’s report with 170 members and $19 billion.

It’s difficult to measure the richness of the people who possess super luxurious mobile phones. However, analysts believe that their assets could be up to hundreds of times bigger than the mobile phones.

Mai Trieu Nguyen, the owner of Mai Nguyen distribution chain, specializing in distributing luxurious mobile phones, said besides Vertu’s products, Vietnamese favor the phones bearing Mobiado, Lamborghini, Bellperre brands.

Though the products are less expensive than Vertu’s, therefore, they are considered as less luxurious, but their prices are sky high.

The dealer said he has sold Mobiado Aston Martin One 77 at VND260 million some days ago. Tonino Lamborghini Spyder L688, priced at VND44 million, is considered as the cheapest product among these available at Mai Nguyen. Bellperre 316L has the quoted selling price at VND48 million, while Mobiado Classic 712ZAF at VND55 million.

Vertu’s products have been selling so well in Vietnam that four Vertu shops have been set up in the country, with two in Hanoi and the other two in HCM City.

Kim Tuyen from FPT, the distributor of Vertu’s mobile phones, said the best Vertu’s sellers are the ones priced at between VND110 million and VND300 million.

Viet Thanh Mobile in HCM City has been known as the shop which offers used Vertu’s products. However, though the products are second hand, they are still very expensive.

Constellation Ayxta, for example, is priced at VND50 million, Touch Pink VND74 million, while Constellation Rose Gold at VND124 million.

It’s a surprise that though the super expensive mobile phones can be used to make calls and messages, except some models such as Vertu TI smart phone, running on Android operation system, they have still been dreamed of by Vietnamese.

Vietnamese began buying the super products five years ago. Mobiado’s products once led the market in terms of the number of products sold, but Vertu led in terms of the turnover.

Mai Trieu Nguyen from Mai Nguyen said at that time, he could sell 15 super products every month. The sales have decreased in the economic recession, but the business still goes smoothly. Ten products were sold in August.

Also according to Nguyen, the sales of super products make up 5 percent of the total turnover of the distribution chain.

Translated by K. Chi

jackbl

14-11-2013, 12:53 AM

The most famous family run economic groups in Vietnam
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VietNamNet Bridge – Though the family run business model remains controversial, the influences of the famous family run conglomerates to the national economy in the past and at present are undeniable.

The best known business families

In early 20th century, Trinh Van Bo and his wife Hoang Thi Minh Ho successfully developed the family’s heritages and became one of the richest families at that time.

They were known as the owners of the Phuc Loi cloth shop in Hanoi which specialized in wholesaling silk and cloths to the whole area of Indochina.

The family has been famous in the Vietnamese history not only for the richness, but also for its great contribution to the revolution. Ho’s family then donated 5,000 taels of gold, or 90 percent of their assets in 1945, when the national treasury got exhausted.

Tran Thi Huong, also listed among the first generation of Vietnamese businessmen, and her family members have set up some powerful businesses, including Hoan Cau Company, capitalized at VND6 trillion, known as the organizer of Miss Universe 2008, Nam A Bank and Diamond Bay resort.

The Huong family has poured money into different business fields, from industries, afforestation, urban area development, tourism, hotel, resort and shopping mall.

The business run by Do Minh Phu and his family member can be cited as a typical example of the family run business model in Vietnam.

Phu is now the President of DOJI, a gold, silver and gemstone company, and President of Tien Phong Bank. His father, Do The Su was one of the founder of the company which was the forerunner of DOJI. Su’s sons now also hold the most important positions in big businesses. Do Anh Tu, a son of his, is now the General Director of Diana.

Vo Quoc Thang is a famous businessman in Vietnam for his extraordinary working ability. Thang is a National Assembly’s Deputy, President of VPF, Chair of the HCM City Young Entrepreneurs’ Association, and the CEOs of a series of businesses, including Dong Tam, a tile manufacturer.

Thang has developed Dong Tam, a family’s workshop set up by his father in 1965, into a powerful conglomerate. Having become a big financier, Thang has injected money in other business fields, including real estate, industrial zones, securities companies and banking.

In other cases, Xuan Thanh, Thanh Thanh Cong, Son Son, Kinh Do, Biti’s, Tan Hiep Phat, Quoc Cuong, Geleximco are associated with the families of Nguyen Xuan Thanh, Dang Van Thanh, Tram Be, Tran Kim Thanh, Vuu Khai THanh, Tran Quy Thanh, Nguyen Thi Loan and Vu Van Tien.

Family run groups – a tendency in Vietnam?

More and more family run business groups have been set up recently, which has made analysts believe that this would be a growing tendency in Vietnam.

Vietnamese always keep close relations among flesh and blood members. They believe family members than outsiders. Therefore, it is understandable why they tend to appoint relatives or brothers into the most important positions in the companies.

Some experts think the family run business model has a lot of advantages which help heighten the production and business efficiency, and help businesses develop stably.

Meanwhile, some economists argue that the business model would hinder the development of businesses, because it keeps talented people away from the companies.

A recent survey by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry VCCI showed that only 10 percent of family run businesses can have sustainable development through three generations.

Manh Ha

love09

16-11-2013, 10:00 AM

Thanh you for "Tieng Viet lovers club"

jackbl

16-11-2013, 03:37 PM

Thanh you for "Tieng Viet lovers club"

Why??? Anything special???

jackbl

16-11-2013, 03:39 PM

Same-sex weddings officially permitted in Vietnam
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VietNamNet Bridge - From November 12, the weddings of people of the same gender will be no longer banned in Vietnam.

In 2012, two weddings of a gay and a lesbian couple were held in the southern provinces of Kien Giang and Ca Mau.

The local authorities intervened and imposed a fine on them, given that the weddings were "contrary to the habits and customs of Vietnam" and the Law on Marriage & Family of Vietnam, which bans marriage between persons of the same sex

However, according to Decree No. 110/2013/ND-CP which took effect on November 12, marriage between people of the same sex has been rejected from the banned cases of marriage. It means that the organization of wedding parties between people of the same sex (without marriage registration) will not be illegal any more and they will not have to pay fine.

The gay couples will have the right to live together and organize weddings.

In the case the local authorities appear to sanction or make intervention, they can take this Decree to protect their legitimate interests.

Mot The Gioi

jackbl

17-11-2013, 12:49 AM

Singer fined $165 for flaunting breast onstage
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The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently fined local actress-singer Ngan Khanh VND3.5 million (US$165) for flaunting her breast in a popular dance reality show which was broadcast live on VTV3 on Nov 9.

During the Nov 9 show of “Vu dieu dam me”, the local version of the dance reality show “Got to dance”, Khanh, who has taken lead roles in several TV dramas, was pairing with male singer Ho Vinh Khoa in an electrifying Bollywood dance.

Donning a modernized Indian iconic gown, which bared one of her shoulders, Khanh’s blouse accidentally dropped, fully exposing her right breast sometime during the dance. Neither Khanh nor her partner noticed this until near the end of the dance, when one of the show jurors gave her a “signal”.

According to Vo Trong Nam, vice head of the department, the singer will face harsher penalty if the offence is repeated. Earlier, the department had worked with Khanh and the show organizer on the incident.

Several people don’t think that Khanh’s breast flaunting was an accident, but instead a ploy to attract attention, while others are frustrated that the penalty is too light.

In August this year, singer-actress Angela Phuong Trinh was also banned from performing nationwide for donning a ‘transparent’ jumpsuit and performing erotic dances at a show in Hanoi.

Many other singers, actors and models, particularly females, have also been involved in similar incidents or sex scandals. Such showbiz celebs as Vo Hoang Yen, who represented Vietnam at 2009 Miss Universe, Thu Minh, Thai Ha and Minh Hang were each fined some US$165, a penalty which many consider perfunctory, for wearing revealing costumes and performing erotic dances onstage.

22-year-old Le Thi Huyen Anh, or “Ba Tung” (Mrs. Tung) was also banned from performing nationwide, even in bars, due to her breast-flaunting video clips and outrageous statements on Facebook.

The HCMC culture department recently submitted a work permit project to be approved. The project aims to put curbs on local performers by issuing work permits to only those eligible and withdrawing them if they make violations later.

milkyshake

17-11-2013, 02:07 PM

Haven't gone pubbing for long time. Is the standard lucky money at JC still $20? Or has it increase already???

jackbl

18-11-2013, 01:31 AM

Saigonese bearing fewer and fewer children
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Keeping with the world trend, especially of major cities, residents of Saigon continue to have fewer and fewer children in recent years.

The birth rates of women of childbearing age in the city have dropped to the lowest level since national data has been available, falling to 1.33 children per woman in 2012, down from 1.45 children in 2009. The national birth rate was 2.06 children per woman last year.

“It’s hard to raise a baby,” said Ms. Ly Thi Them, 38, in District 11 of Ho Chi Minh City on being asked if she wanted to have another child.

“I have a son. After getting married, we were poor, and didn’t have a sufficient income to raise him, so he fell ill. The medicine and hospital costs for him were uncountable.”

“Although he is now 14 years old and healthier, I have no plan to have a second child because our total income is just ten million dong [US$481] a month. It is not enough to support a new family member,” she added.

Ms. Vu Ngoc Doan Trang, 29, in Phu Nhuan District, earns a good salary, but mentioned another reason to avoid having more than one child.

Trang, owner of a private company, and her husband, a car dealer, want to arrange more time to travel regularly instead of taking care of young children.

It takes a couple at least three years to return to normal life after having a baby, Trang said.

Besides, the fear of morning sickness during pregnancy and the efforts to get back in shape after birth have dissuaded her from having a second child.

In general, career opportunities, income levels, and the desire to live life to its fullest cause mothers of childbearing age to have fewer and fewer children, according to Ms. To Thi Kim Hoa—deputy director of HCMC Health Department and head of the Family Planning Department.

“Each couple should have two children to ensure labor resources and future community development,” she added.

Lowering birth rates have created a new “lonely generation” with the proportions of families with one child and single mothers growing larger.

With the Vietnamese population officially reaching 90 million this month, the imbalance of population in cities and the countryside may bring new challenges to the government regarding infrastructure, social welfare, and work force in the near future.

Analysts warned that there are consequences that may follow the decrease of birth rates combined with longer life expectancy. There will be more retired people than those able to work, and a possible wave of immigration to big cities, causing a shortage of workers in the countryside.

This has happened in almost all developed nations including the US, Japan, and European countries, driving experts to warn of a 'population crisis'.

jackbl

18-11-2013, 01:33 AM

Going to Cai Rang floating market in the flood season
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VietNamNet Bridge – Visiting the Cai Rang floating market in the Mekong Delta City of Can Tho, visitors will be immersed in the miniature world of the southwestern region.

With the crisscrossed rivers and canals, plus the annual flood season, Cai Rang floating market was born as a necessity to meet the demands of goods exchange of local people. As one of the three largest floating markets in the Mekong region, with hundreds of boats grouping up, Cai Rang market is a must-see destination when it comes to Can Tho.

Cai Rang market opens from early morning to about 10am. To visit this market, visitors should come here at 6am - 7am to feel the excitement here. There are many ways to go to the market. If you choose the road, you can take a bus or a xe om (motorcycle taxi) from the center of Can Tho to Cai Rang with about 20 minutes away. Then you can walk to the market.

However, due to Cai Rang Market is on the Cai Rang river, about 6 km from the center of Can Tho city, it is better to go by boat from Ninh Kieu Wharf to the market, with VND30,000 per ticket and after about 30 minutes.

As the main market in the region, Cai Rang is flooded with seasonal produces of Southwest growers such as fruit, flowers, and vegetables ... Each boat often sells one kind of goods, which are piled up as small mountains. Tourists come here sometimes don’t need to buy but only watch the mountains of mangos, oranges, rambutans, and dragon fruits to feed their eyes.

It is more interesting to see the way traders deliver their goods from this boat to another boat, by throwing. Since this is a wholesale market, the retail prices are not much cheaper than urban markets but in return you can comfortably choose fresh fruit.

Since the vehicles at the market are boats, moving between boats to buy things is not simple. To decide whether you should jump into a boat or not, pay attention to the things hung on the pole in front of each boat because that is the goods that the boat sells.

In the Cai Rang floating market, you also have the opportunity to feel the rustic western life while enjoying food and drink in the small boats around the market, from boats selling noodles to the boats shell drinks and coffee. The food here is very cheap. Only a few thousand dong for a cup of coffee or a noodle bowl, but it will be unforgettable taste every time you remember about Cai Rang.

Soaking up in the bustling atmosphere of the market, visitors can observe and learn of the family lives in the boats. Not only the “stalls of goods,” the boats are also the houses of many families, with amenities of live such as TVs, DVDs, motorcycles, even pets.

So it is not strange when you see at the market all services like computer and scale repair to fuel sales and groceries selling cosmetics, fish-sauce, salt to drugs and confectionery... on boats, featuring a simple life.

Pha Le

jackbl

19-11-2013, 12:20 AM

Ho Xuan Huong, rendezvous of lovers
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VietNamNet Bridge - Located in the heart of Da Lat city, Xuan Huong Lake is the place attracting numerous tourists and couples by its graceful and poetic beauty.

Witnessing many ups and downs in the history of Da Lat, Xuan Huong Lake - the heart of Da Lat city - was previously a swamp of lac grass which was used to wave mat and the rice fields of the Lach tribe, who lived along the Da Lach stream - now known as Camly spring.

In the process of building the city of Da Lat, in 1919, the stream was stopped by French and Vietnamese engineers to build a dam from Thuy Ta restaurant to the intersection of Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, Nguyen Thai Hoc and Dinh Tien Hoang, creating a beautiful artificial lake. At that time, the lake had a French name as Grand Lac (Big Lake) but later in 1953 it was renamed as Xuan Huong Lake.

Xuan Huong Lake has a circumference of more than 5 km, covering the area of up to 38 hectares. Wide sidewalks are built around the lake with willow and apricot cherry blossoms in spring.

All roads around Da Lat lead to Xuan Huong Lake. Around the lake are the road to the old railway station of Da Lat, the road to the famous church of Con Ga (Chicken) or to the Bao Dai Palace and the bustling Da Lat Market.

The city flower garden with lots of beautiful flowers is also on the road along the lake. This is also the road for cyclists. It takes them over one hour to pedal around the lake.

Xuan Huong Lek is the meeting place of the city of flowers. There are many hotels and cafes with romantic views to the idyllic lake. On the sunny days, the lake is a flat mirror reflecting the blue sky, with gentle ripples. On rainy days, the lake water is in red color. In the early morning, Xuan Huong Lake is covered by clouds, creating unreal scenes. At night, the lake is covered with surreal smoke. From high above, amid the green of trees is gentle Xuan Huong Lake reflecting the clouds and the sky.

Everyone who visits Da Lat drops at the Xuan Huong Lake, which is not only a splendid landscape but also a very poetic place. The Lake is the meeting point of the city’s lovers, the romantic place for taking wedding photographs and the scene witnessing many romantic love affairs.

Along with the pine forest, the Love Valley, Xuan Huong Lake brings poets with endless inspiration.

Nga My

jackbl

19-11-2013, 12:27 AM

Historic flooding destroys central Vietnam
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Floods triggered by torrential rains in the central region have killed at least 31 people, left two missing and seriously injured three others, disaster officials said on November 17.

The National Search and Rescue Committee announced that the floods also inundated and damaged nearly 10,000 houses and 431 hectares of rice and crops.

In Quang Nam alone, as many as 29 communes across four districts were completely submerged.

Rescue forces have been working to move over 63,000 people in Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh and Phu Yen cities out of the dangerous and isolated areas to safe shelters.

On November 17, flood water started to recede in some areas and rains focused mainly in the Quang Tri-Quang Ngai provinces.

According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting, the rain amount in the Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh provinces on November 16 ranged from 30 – 149 mm.

Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh are the most affected provinces.

When the central region had not dealt with the consequences of the historic flooding on November 15-16, new floods came in the afternoon on November 17, submerging thousands of houses in Binh Dinh and Quang Ngai provinces.

Floods in Quang Ngai-Binh Dinh provinces are forecast to continue, while river waters from Thua Thien-Hue to Quang Nam and Phu Yen provinces will slowly go down.

Flood relief effort intensified in central region

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked relevant ministries, agencies and localities to mobilise all resources to assist flood victims in the central region.

In a telegram dated November 17, the PM sent sympathy to families that have their beloved ones lost or injured as a consequence of floods in the central region.

Over the past three days, heavy downpours, with rainfall ranging between 400-1,000mm, caused severe flooding in central coastal localities, especially in Thua Thien-Hue, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.

The devastating floods caused heavy human and property losses and badly affected business production and people’s lives.

The National Search and Rescue Committee reported death toll has risen to 31 in the region, and nearly 10,000 houses and 431 hectares of rice and subsidiary crops have been damaged or inundated.

In his telegram, Dung required the affected localities to evacuate people from high-risk areas, mobilise all resources to rescue people in cut-off areas, and provide them with daily necessities to ensure no one is left thirsty or hungry.

He asked the designated localities and ministries to guide transportation at key arteries, tightly regulate dams and reservoirs, keep a tight grip on market prices, and supply sufficient medicine to prevent possible epidemic outbreaks.

PM instructs provinces on flood response

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has asked the People’s Committees of central and Central Highlands provinces to continue evacuating people in flood-prone regions to safety.

In an order dated November 17, the PM also asked localities to reach isolated areas to provide aid relief, including food to the people there.

The National Committee for Search and Rescue and the ministries of defence and public security were assigned to deploy forces to evacuate people and conduct search and rescue upon request.

Meanwhile, the ministries of agriculture and rural development and trade and industry were asked to closely follow the changes of the floods, collaborate with the localities to operate reservoirs to ensure safety for low-land areas, prepare essential goods and food and control market prices.

The Ministry of Transport has a duty to repair roads, especially the North-South railway and express way.

For its part, the Ministry of Health has to ensure sufficient medicine is stockpiled and promptly provide medical check-ups for the flood victims.

Other ministries and agencies will support the localities to soon resume production and daily activities as soon as the floods go down.

Floods triggered by torrential rains in the central region have killed at least 31 people, left two missing and seriously injured three others, disaster officials said on November 17.

jackbl

20-11-2013, 09:49 AM

Child street vendors are victims of sexual abuse in Vietnam
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Young girls working as street vendors are the most vulnerable to sexual abuse due to their innocence, lack of knowledge, and habit of talking to potentially dangerous male customers.

The risk increases at night, when men go out to eat and drink after work.

The long dark alleys characteristic of Saigon are considered “full of risks,” but contain the most potential clients for street vendors.

Cases of abuse

At 10:00pm on a weekend, Ngoc—a young girl aged 11—wandered the alleys of district 5, the epicenter of blue-collar workers in the city, to sell lottery tickets. The alleys are dimly lit with yellow electric lights.

A group of three men chatting in front of a house in the alley waved to call her over. While she held out a wad of lottery tickets to one of the men, another man gently rubbed Ngoc’s hand and pulled her close to him.

She struggled violently in fear and escaped him. However, Ngoc returned to the alley the following day simply because she knew there were many customers there.

Despite her youth, Ngoc is 1.5m tall and has the facial and body features of a beautiful woman.

Ngoc is one of thousands of female vendors on the streets of Ho Chi Minh City who face sexual abuse daily. A recent survey carried out by the Research Center for Management and Sustainable Development (MSD) and Denmark’s Vietnam-based NGO Fontana showed that 92.5 percent of 120 street children aged 8-18 said they had been sexually abused.

Ngoc said, embarrassed, “My grandmother told me to run away and shout for help if a man touches me. I think that man attempted to embrace me but did nothing, so I just ran away.”

The young girl recalled that a man once snatched the bag of money she was wearing around her neck when she was hawking in an alley in the city.

Older girls who work on the street occasionally interact with male customers to earn extra money.

Long, a 9-year-old boy who works on the streets of the Backpackers’ area in District 1, pointed at a girl while she was leaving a bar with a man. Long said the girl is Ty, 10. Infatuated with her natural beauty and rosy complexion, the man is Ty’s regular customer.

“Initially, she hawked gum and candy with me. She met him and he said he would buy her candy if she showed him her private parts. Later, he often gave her cakes, candy, and money and took her with him.

“He introduces her as his adopted daughter. They sleep together every night,” Long said.

However, Long believes, “That is not a violation because she voluntarily did it for money. Some other men asked her to go to their rooms to watch films and let them touch her. That’s all, it’s OK.”

It is a lack of knowledge that allows street vendors to be so susceptible to abuse. According to the above survey, 14 of 15 sexually-abused street vendors have never heard of sexual abuse. Many of them have no knowledge of contraception, safe sex, or sexually transmitted diseases.

Some street vendors who are homeless orphans fall in love with each other and often get together in a park or under a bridge to use drugs or have sex.

“No one loves me on the street. That boy cares for me and I certainly love him,” said Trang, a 16-year vendor who started hawking at the age of 13.

Other girls are raped after they are convinced to enter customers’ houses. Boys have also been victims of sexual abuse.

Last year’s report by the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs showed that Vietnam has over 1,000 cases of sexual abuse a year on average, and this number is increasing. 65 percent of the abuse cases were child rapes, with 28 percent raped multiple times.

Last year, Ho Chi Minh City had 1,500 homeless children, according to the report.

jackbl

20-11-2013, 09:51 AM

When children must work to support their families
================================================== ==========

Having no parental support, abandoned children are forced onto the street to earn money for food to survive. They are easily susceptible to risks such as sexual abuse, drug addiction, and crime.

After being abused or committing a crime, children often believe they have nothing more to lose and do not seek help because they are weary or feel inferior. This causes them to plunge deeper into evil.

Long, 10, who hawks wares in the backpackers’ area in District 1, tells people, “I am gay.” However, the innocent boy may not understand what he is saying, as he believes any boy who has sex with a man for money is ‘gay’.

Support families

Street children in Ho Chi Minh City are not all orphans or homeless. A recent survey showed that the number of street children who have houses and families in this city is actually larger than those who are homeless.

But why do they choose life on the street?

Their families are not a source of support but a burden to them. The parents of these children don’t let them go to school, but rather force them to go to work as vendors to make them money.

Thanh, 12, a smart girl with a lovely face, is one such child who has to support her family despite her youth. By selling candy, cigarettes, and gum and begging for money at fuel stations downtown, Thanh said she can earn VND500,000 – 600,000 (US$24 – 29) a day.

She has to hand over all the money she earns to her parents, she admitted.

Her parents are quite healthy but don’t work. Even worse, when Thanh was admitted into free classes at charity centers in the city, her parents came and forced her to leave the classes because ‘learning doesn’t earn money’.

Other parents from immigrant families in the city do realize the importance of education but have to make their children work because they can’t afford to support their family on their own, with the meager wages of a brick layer or street vendor.

Binh, 13, left his family in the central province of Binh Thuan to move to Saigon, hoping to find a job to support his family at home. After getting off a bus in Mien Dong (Eastern) bus station, he was approached by a male motorbike taxi driver who offered to help him find a job.

The following day, Binh was sexually abused by the motorbike taxi driver.

Some try to escape, but others accept abuse as a temporary job.

A 9-year-old lottery ticket vendor named Bao admitted he has to let a man touch his private parts on the days he can’t sell tickets.

“I’m afraid of being beaten and owing money for being unable to sell tickets, so I do it for money in return,” Bao said honestly.

Often, it is foreign tourists who approach child vendors for sex.

Unexpected children

A small number of street vendors are abandoned by their families after they admit that they are gay. They are forced out of their homes because of their parents’ prejudices and lack of knowledge.

Other street children are the product of unwanted pregnancies of street girls aged 14-16 who must have their babies because they realize they are pregnant when they are already five months or more along.

Having no capacity to raise their children safely, these “little mothers,” whose children are often the product of sexual abuse, often work as prostitutes or delve into drug use.

Many young mothers even sell their infants for a sum of money to satisfy their drug addictions.

A report of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs showed that almost 2,000 cases of sexually abused children were brought to light each year, meaning more than five children are abused a day.

jackbl

21-11-2013, 10:19 AM

HCM City to relicense discotheques after years
================================================== ============
VietNamNet Bridge – The Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism of Ho Chi Minh City is drafting a discos and karaoke parlor planning, under which new discotheques and karaoke bars may be licensed based on the demands and proposals of each district.

After years of halting the licenses of new discotheques and karaoke bars, HCM City Vice Chairman – Mr. Hua Ngoc Thuan has assigned the HCMC Department of Culture - Sports and Tourism to draft the planning for this kind of entertainment services in the city from now to 2020.

Under this plan, the city government will license discotheques and karaoke bars in districts at the demands and proposals of the local authorities. However, management over these businesses will be tightened to control social evils. The license of new discotheques and karaoke bars must have the consent of relevant bodies, not only the local authorities.

HCM City currently has about 750 karaoke bars, studios, 25 bars and discotheques. Since 2005, under the government’s instruction on tightening the operation of sensitive services, the city has not licensed any new discotheques and karaoke bars.

In relation to the operation of sensitive services, earlier this year HCM City proposed the central government to zone an area for “sensitive businesses” to prevent and reduce prostitution, which tends to become more complex and widespread in the city.

If the government approves the idea, the city will select an area which is relatively isolated from the central area to host all bars, discos, restaurants, motels and spa centers.

In addition, all female workers in this area must have a labor contract and have periodic health checks to ensure no spread of the diseases to others.

Le Ha

jackbl

25-11-2013, 12:35 AM

Sleeping with call girls earns $24-$237 fines: decree
================================================== ===================
The Vietnamese government has just passed a decree under which clients of prostitutes will be punished more severely than the call girls. In particular, sex buyers will be fined VND500,000-VND1 million (US$23.7-$47.4).

However, those who pay to have sex with several prostitutes at the same time will be fined from VND2 million ($94.8) to VND5 million ($237), according to decree 167/2013/ND-CP to take effect from December 28 this year.

Those who lure or force others to buy sex with them will be fined VND5 milion-VND10 million (up to $474.3).

For prostitutes, the punishment is much softer. In particular, they will be issued a warning (non-pecuniary) in less severe cases or a monetary fine of VND100,000-VND300,000 (up to $14). If they are found to have sex with many clients at the same time, they will be fined from VND300,000 to VND500,000 ($23.7).

If the prostitutes are foreigners, they can be deported from Vietnam.

The decree also details monetary punishment for a variety of offenses including providing real estate to others to be used as a brothel (VND1 million-VND2 million); hiding, protecting prostitution activities (VND2 million-VND5 million)…

Also, heads of businesses that, through their ignorance and irresponsibility, harbor prostitution will be fined VND15 million-VND20 million.

Violating businesses will have their licenses suspended for 6-12 months.

Besides prostitution, the decree also regulates punishment in the field of security, fire fighting and prevention and family violence.

Last year, authorities nationwide inspected over 30,000 sensitive venues, found nearly 11,000 violating parlors, handled over 1,100 cases and criminally treated 800 cases involving over 1,000 people. Police managed to rescue many child victims.

During the first 6 months of this year, police nationwide handled 172 prostitution cases. In Ho Chi Minh City alone, there were 109 establishments found with violations during the period.

jackbl

25-11-2013, 02:03 PM

What is sex if not obscene?
====================================
After taking a nap, I stumbled upon this odd story on Tuoitrenews and am compelled to write out. The article is about proposed fines on prostitutes and clients but one thing weird is the phrase “sex of an obscene nature”.

To cut to the chase, “sex of an obscene nature” with a prostitute will incur a fine of $476, ten times more than the fine for normal paid sex.

Well, I can agree to the logic that the dirtier the sex is, the more money you have to pay (sounds acceptable). Also, the proposal has threesome or foursome pay heavier fines, which is fine since at least we have specific parameters.

But when it comes to “sex of an obscene nature”, I am at a loss. Worse, the security ministry, which drafted the legal proposal, fails to offer any definition or explanation.

According to an online dictionary, “obscene” means “offensive or disgusting by accepted standards of morality and decency” or “offensive to moral principles; repugnant”. So what is socially or culturally accepted norms when it comes to sex? And who sets out the norms?

While it is relatively easy to say what is obscene and what is not in the US as the country has obscenity laws, many other parts of the world including Vietnam do not have them.

If there is no legal definition, it is open to interpretation and a fertile land for corruption. Need I talk about corruption in Vietnam?

As far as I understand, the Ministry of Public Security could have meant S&M, bestiality or other socially unaccepted sexual acts (I bet bestiality is out of the question since this only involves paid sex and no one pays to have sex with an animal).

So what do they mean by “sex of an obscene nature”?

Guesswork leads me to the American legal phrase “deviate sexual intercourse". According to the US law, "deviate sexual intercourse" means any contact between the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person.

But even If my speculation is correct, the Vietnam’s draft decree is still confusing as it does not explain anything. This is a legal guide and supposed to be unambiguous.

However, even when the definition is given, who is to say for sure if their sex at a closed hotel room is “deviate” or not. It’s not like they have a camera recording their sexual activities to be submitted to a panel of judges who would analyze and decide whether the client is “obscene” towards their girl or not.

More often than not, the prostitute and her customer are caught in the act by surprise and inspectors really have no idea what activities couple has engaged in, except when they catch them red-handed with S&M tools or toys. But do S&M and sex toys constitute “obscenity”? The Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security is mute on that.

If the ministry really wants to use the phrase, it must give a definition and list out some banned acts. I bet they won’t due to Vietnam’s culturally conservative nature especially when it comes to the birds and the bees.

According to Tuoitrenews, the original Vietnamese words for “obscene” is “doi truy”. As I asked my Vietnamese friends what “doi truy” meant, I heard definitions like “sexy” “nude” “pornographic”, “lustful”… Wow. If that is true, ALL (100%) sexual acts are of a “doi truy” nature.

When I pry deeper, my local friends googled and gave me the following Wiktionary definition: “doi truy” means “Đi ra ngoài khuôn khổ những gì được cho là đúng, ngoan, tốt, không được xã hội chấp nhập. Khác thường, không được truyền thống” or going beyond what is considered right, wise; not accepted by society; abnormal, not traditional. But exactly what it entails and what are examples of a “doi truy" act, none can tell (including the security ministry, I guess).

Personally for me, all sex is of an obscene or deviate nature, to some degree, be it with prostitutes or with one’s spouse. (you can check this next time before criticizing me).

And what happens between consensual adults in a closed room should stay in the closed room. I always disagree with sodomy laws criminalizing “unnatural or immoral” sex (to use Wikipedia words) like oral, anal sex. But at least, they have some definitions there.

Next time you go to bed, remember to be nice culturally and be refined, moral and non-deviate in doing it with your mate.

jackbl

26-11-2013, 09:17 AM

Learn Vietnamese with Video - What Will Your Vietnamese Skills Bring to the Table??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcbbLNQVlCs

jackbl

27-11-2013, 10:53 AM

If you are diligent and hardworking, you can earn quite a substantial amount of money :)

Catching locusts, earning million dong a day
================================================== =======
VietNamNet Bridge – Catching locusts has become a lucrative job of many farmers in Quynh Luu district in Nghe An province.

At dawn, when the sun did not rise up yet, a group of four men and one woman were present on the field of Quynh Thach commune, Quynh Luu district to catch grasshoppers. Their tools are a net of 50-60m long, small bamboo slats and a coil of rope of hundreds of meters long binding small bags containing chopped rice leaves.

The teams both walked and stretched the long rope on the field to drive away grasshoppers to the area where they set the net. Being driven away, the locusts flew at the "instruction" of the hunters. In minutes, locusts covered the net and these people only needed to collect the net and pour the locusts into a sack. Each catch, they gained 30-40 kg of grasshoppers.

Grasshopper hunting has become a job of many people in Quynh Luu district for 4-5 years. Quynh Thanh commune is the location of origin of this job. Initially, locust catchers ran motorcycles along the fields and used rackets to catch grasshoppers. But this measure could not help them catch locusts in large amounts. When locust prices increased rapidly, local people “invented” the above method.

Having worked for five years in the profession, Mr. Ho Van Tao from Quynh Thanh commune, considered catching grasshoppers as a profession to earn a living. Getting married so late at the age of 40, his first child is only 9 years old. Tao and his wife left their four children to Tao’s parents to earn their living.

The harvest time is the golden time for locusts hunters. No matter rain or sun, they are present on the field. These days, Tao and other people in his hamlet drive motorbikes to all fields in the district.

During the peak period in July, the price for one kilo of fresh grasshopper was VND50,000 ($2.5), Tao and his teammates went to other provinces like Ha Tinh and Thanh Hoa to catch locusts.

They usually work from dawn to late afternoon. Some days, a team of 4-5 people can catch several hundreds of kilos of locusts in a morning. They sell locusts to traders, who will then transport the pests to Hanoi. Tao said he can earn million dong (at least $50) a day.

Seeing high revenue from this job, hundreds of people in Quynh Thanh commune have pursued it.

Because so many people are hunting grasshoppers, the price for this pest is declining. "The price for grasshoppers has fallen to VND17,000-20,000 ($0.7-1) per kilo. But if you are diligent and hardworking, you can earn money more easily than other job trades," said Mr. Le Van Phuong, 32, from Quynh Thanh commune, a teammate of Tao.

At restaurant in Hanoi, a dish of roasted grasshoppers (about 100 g) is priced from VND60,000 to VND80,000 ($3-4).

VNE

jackbl

28-11-2013, 01:01 AM

More lesbians show their faces at school
================================================== =======
VietNamNet Bridge – A lot of female students in Can Tho City have joined teenagers’ forums just to fight over the same-sex marriage right. They acknowledge themselves as lesbians, though they are actually not lesbians.

Two female students, one with short hair and the other with long hair, were seen sitting in the middle of the school yard cuddling each other in front of their friends. They did not care about the people around them and ignored the teachers as well.

The scene was seen at a high school in Can Tho City. When asked about this, the school’s Communist Youth Union’s Secretary said there are six couples of lesbians in the school.

The two students looked like a couple of husband and wife who were sulky with each other. The student with long hair asked: “Why did you keep me waiting for such a long time” – “I had to wait until the lesson finished,” the student with short hair answered – “I will not forgive you if you keep me waiting long once more.”

In the conversation, the student – wife expressed her jealousy when hearing that her partner went out with a boy named T the day before. The student – husband affirmed that this would never happen. The dialogue of the couple only finished when the student with short hair promised to bring the student with long hair to a riddle cake after the school hours.

The noteworthy thing was that the conversation and the gestures of the couple did not surprise the students around. They continued playing during the break time.

“There are six couples of lesbians at our school,” the school’s Communist Youth Union’s Secretary said. “But they are not lesbians actually. It is a trend of becoming lesbians,” she said.

“The love sounds very romantic, but they would separate just after one year. However, this is really a big headache to the teachers and students,” she continued.

The students always hold each other’s hands lovingly at school and everywhere. Some of them even kiss each other in front of friends and teachers. Most of them have been found as being from the families with intricate circumstances and their learning capability is weak.

“We met the couples a lot of times and tried to persuade them to rethink their behaviors. The psychology teacher has also given advices to them. But we still cannot do anything to separate them,” she said.

The owner of a tea shop near the school also said that a lot of lesbian couples come to the shop regularly in school uniforms. “I don’t know what to do with them. I am afraid that I would acquire bad reputation as the person who has antipathy for lesbians and gays,” he said.

“I think they are not lesbians actually. Some of them have boyfriends after saying goodbye to each other,” he noted.

A lot of female students in Can Tho City have become the active members of the teenagers’ forums which fight for the same-sex marriage right. A student showed her photo on the forum and is recognized as a lesbian.

Mai Chi

bigdude

28-11-2013, 11:34 PM

What is the meaning of chao anh?

mutantchicken

29-11-2013, 02:33 AM

What is the meaning of chao anh?

porridge brother?

bigdude

29-11-2013, 08:30 AM

Chao a e ko bjet a la aj?

turtle23

29-11-2013, 09:16 AM

It means, good morning, i do not know who are you.

milkyshake

29-11-2013, 09:53 AM

Chao a e ko bjet a la aj?

Hello brother, I don't know who are you.

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 10:40 AM

Chao a e ko bjet a la aj?

translated - hi bro, who are you?

Another way to say...oops not sure what is the name of the cock I blew liao...haha....:p

bigdude

29-11-2013, 11:59 AM

Oh I see.. How to say I am the one wearing pink long sleeve and wear specs. I am at rm 3. U remember? haha

Thks

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 12:04 PM

Oh I see.. How to say I am the one wearing pink long sleeve and wear specs. I am at rm 3. U remember? haha

Thks

a la con trai mac quan ao mau hong va co mac kinh o phong 3...tra e nhieu tien nhe...:p

milkyshake

29-11-2013, 12:11 PM

a la con trai mac quan ao mau hong va co mac kinh o phong 3...tra e nhieu tien nhe...:p

Bro
The last line ... Ha ha..

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 12:15 PM

Bro
The last line ... Ha ha..

hehe...sure she remember is "you" LOL...:p

milkyshake

29-11-2013, 12:31 PM

hehe...sure she remember is "you" LOL...:p

Skali remember the wrong guy..

bigdude

29-11-2013, 01:07 PM

She say E ko nho? What does she mean?

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 01:10 PM

She say E ko nho? What does she mean?

i dun remember...

another meaning - you must had paid her little tips and so she had no impression of you...or you had not upped her yet...hehe...:p

bigdude

29-11-2013, 01:26 PM

huh.. Don remember? I give her $30 lol

bro how to say I juz come two days ago and we did french a bit and my short frd everytime ask U to drink liquor lol.. Haha

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 01:33 PM

huh.. Don remember? I give her $30 lol

bro how to say I juz come two days ago and we did french a bit and my short frd everytime ask U to drink liquor lol.. Haha

2 ngay qua a co di cho lam gap e va e co hon voi a nhieu...ban ngan cua a co moi e uong ruou nhieu nha...khi nao e co ranh dc wa lai gap va di choi nhe...:)

KangTuo

29-11-2013, 02:58 PM

H88 TV improves a lot sia... :)

KangTuo

29-11-2013, 03:03 PM

a la con trai mac quan ao mau hong va co mac kinh o phong 3...tra e nhieu tien nhe...:p

Quan ao - pants and shirt..

A mac ao gia tay (long sleeve) mau hong va deo (wear) mat kinh o phong so (number) 3.

milkyshake

29-11-2013, 03:55 PM

2 ngay qua a co di cho lam gap e va e co hon voi a nhieu...ban ngan cua a co moi e uong ruou nhieu nha...khi nao e co ranh dc wa lai gap va di choi nhe...:)

Wah.. Straight ask her got free go boom boom or not..

jf66312

29-11-2013, 04:25 PM

Wah.. Straight ask her got free go boom boom or not..

khi nao em ranh , di khach san voi anh duoc khong? anh se cho em suong lam... :p

bigdude

29-11-2013, 07:11 PM

How to say U write your number on a paper, U forgot alrdy?

KangTuo

29-11-2013, 10:49 PM

How to say U write your number on a paper, U forgot alrdy?

Ghi so cua e o trong giay

Hurricane88

29-11-2013, 11:08 PM

Ghi so cua e o trong giay

you forgot already...
e quen roi ha...:p

jackbl

30-11-2013, 12:11 AM

H88 TV improves a lot sia...

What u meant?

jackbl

30-11-2013, 12:15 AM

ao gia tay (long sleeve)

Or are u referring to dài?

volcano

30-11-2013, 03:32 AM

pink long sleeve

ao so mi dai mau hong

p:s i presume u are wearing pink long sleeves shirt.

KangTuo

30-11-2013, 07:38 AM

Or are u referring to dài?

Yes yes yes....

KangTuo

30-11-2013, 07:39 AM

What u meant?

More accurate translation this time round

bigdude

30-11-2013, 05:49 PM

how to say sorry, u call me but i dont understand your talkin cos my viet is from the internet. Anyway i am comin on 9/12/13

Hurricane88

30-11-2013, 06:03 PM

how to say sorry, u call me but i dont understand your talkin cos my viet is from the internet. Anyway i am comin on 9/12/13

xin loi e dien thoai cho a ko hieu tieng viet tai a dang hoc tieng viet tu internet.
9t thang 12 a tren cho lam e. Hy vong dc gap e nha.

KangTuo

30-11-2013, 08:20 PM

xin loi e dien thoai cho a ko hieu tieng viet tai a dang hoc tieng viet tu internet.
9t thang 12 a tren cho lam e. Hy vong dc gap e nha.

Xl e dt cho a ma a kg hieu e noi j het vi a hoc ghi tv o trong mang

Evilectus

30-11-2013, 09:31 PM

Hi all, if I want to learn tieng viet, where are the recommended places to go to besides long-hair con gai?

Hurricane88

30-11-2013, 10:55 PM

Hi all, if I want to learn tieng viet, where are the recommended places to go to besides long-hair con gai?

this learning tieng viet had been discussed many times here...you just need to search and get the answer...:)

the answer is simple...no point to attend class and then you dun speak often...so the best way to learn is to keep chatting with VB...a fren of mine can be on his own within 2 months...so slow learner may be 3 months...:)

key is to chat with many Vbs and not only 1 VB...:)

Bro jackbl had posted many videos on self learning...useful if you can remember...I had a simple way to learn tieng viet...and so far many of them had progressed...currently translating for half a dozen frens...:)

jackbl

30-11-2013, 11:47 PM

I had a simple way to learn tieng viet...and so far many of them had progressed...

Hope u can share with the newbies the simplest way and progress fast....

I learnt thru the hard way. Study study study :(

Evilectus

01-12-2013, 01:37 AM

this learning tieng viet had been discussed many times here...you just need to search and get the answer...:)

the answer is simple...no point to attend class and then you dun speak often...so the best way to learn is to keep chatting with VB...a fren of mine can be on his own within 2 months...so slow learner may be 3 months...:)

key is to chat with many Vbs and not only 1 VB...:)

Bro jackbl had posted many videos on self learning...useful if you can remember...I had a simple way to learn tieng viet...and so far many of them had progressed...currently translating for half a dozen frens...:)

Thanks for the tip, H88. I'll dig up the old threads. I actually like to study the language besides learning how to speak. About the VB (viet gals?) part, I assume one got to go to JC or similar places to hook up with WLs to practise as it's not so easy to find people to talk to?

Evilectus

01-12-2013, 01:39 AM

Hope u can share with the newbies the simplest way and progress fast....

I learnt thru the hard way. Study study study :(

I think study is not too bad lah. As long as got interest and feel happy, it will still be worth it.

Hurricane88

01-12-2013, 11:37 AM

Hope u can share with the newbies the simplest way and progress fast....

I learnt thru the hard way. Study study study

Thanks for the tip, H88. I'll dig up the old threads. I actually like to study the language besides learning how to speak. About the VB (viet gals?) part, I assume one got to go to JC or similar places to hook up with WLs to practise as it's not so easy to find people to talk to?

you the grandmaster of tieng viet roi...when I just started in 2007 your tieng viet already very pro roi...:)

my way of learning tieng viet which I shared with my frens...simple way remember 10 words per day...10 days 100 words...1 year 3,650 words...remember must know how to write it and say it...:)

reason why we learned...to speak to the VBs who you are keen...so enough motivation...:)

where to learn...here in this thread from page one...using chat online with VB using facebook, wechat, viber, whatsapp, yahoo messenger...^^

where to speak to VB...JC, GL, and virtually almost everywhere now if you knew where they are...or fly to Vietnam...hehe...:)

jackbl

01-12-2013, 12:14 PM

HIV/AIDS rates still too high in Viet Nam
================================================== =======
VietNamNet Bridge – In the first nine months of this year, an average of 34 people contracted HIV each day, according to recent statistics from the Ministry of Health.

In an update on the virus' spread in Viet Nam, the Ministry said that as of October this year, there were over 200,000 people living with HIV/AIDS, of which more than 65,000 had developed AIDS. Around 66,000 people died from HIV/AIDS in the same period.

Bui Hoang Duc, from the ministry's Department for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, said that although the pandemic had declined in recent years, the numbers were still relatively high.

The ratio of women with HIV has increased during the past years, with the number of sexually transmitted HIV infections outnumbering those via blood-to-blood contact.

According to the ministry, the proportion of people over 30 and living with HIV was also on the rise.

However, Duc said the ministry was especially concerned about a large number of people with HIV being unaware of their condition; posing a huge threat to the community and threatening a rise in infection rates.

An increasing number of cases had been discovered in drug addicts' partners, he added.

Discrimination against HIV/AIDS patients is still rife throughout Viet Nam, even providing obstacles for patients seeking treatment.

The 2013 National Action Month for HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control, launched on November 10, will focus on reducing the risk of infection by organising conferences and seminars to raise awareness. The occasion will also urge HIV/AIDS patients to access health care services and promote co-operation with border patrol soldiers to increase awareness on HIV/AIDS in remote areas.

Source: VNS

KiasuUncle

01-12-2013, 11:32 PM

Yoni massage

Have u guys heard of Yoni massage?? Read more on this link below.

http://tuoitrenews.vn/society/15484/vagina-massage-services-freely-advertised-in-vietnam :eek:

jackbl

05-12-2013, 12:36 AM

Vietnamese women concerned by aphrodisiac perfume
================================================== =================
Many local women are worried of the powers of aphrodisiac perfume as some online sex shops claim that if women inhale their aphrodisiac fragrances for a few seconds, they will become sexually excited and unable to control themselves.

These aphrodisiac perfumes are freely advertised on online sex shops under various names like Rush, Quick, Red Strength, and Popper. The sellers claim that their products are imported and are of good quality.

Arouse powerful sensual feelings?

An online ad reads: “Rush helps increase feelings of excitement, stimulate the sex drive, and bring unforgettable happiness to lovers. It is available for men, women, gays, and lesbians”. Another ads says: “Super Rush Quick gives your partner feelings of excitement and sexual pleasure which cannot be reached under normal circumstances”.

According to a report by Zing News, Mai in Binh Thanh District in Ho Chi Minh City, whose eldest daughter is a third-year student at a university, was unable to sleep for several days because she was worried after hearing a rumor that some fragrances for sale can arouse powerful sensual feelings.

She later asked her husband to phone an online shop. The man who answered confirmed that he was selling many kinds of sexually-arousing perfumes, each of them costing from VND900,000 to VND2 million per bottle. The man claimed that scents from the perfumes give their users feelings of excitement and high sexual desire.

A schoolgirl named M.K. told Zing News that her boyfriend used to be solicited by a street vendor selling unlabeled bottles of aphrodisiac fragrance. “When my boyfriend and I were sitting on the sidewalk near Mien Tay (Mekong Delta region) bus station in District 6, a street-vendor approached my boyfriend and sneakily handed him a small box with a naked girl printed on it,” K. said.

“When he left, I asked my boyfriend what it was. I was shocked to hear that it was a sexual-arousing product because I never thought that my boyfriend would cheat on me,” K. recalled.

There are rumors that many women have been victims of these perfumes. For example, an office worker at a company in Ho Chi Minh City said that her boss gave her a luxury bottle of perfume as a gift that he bought during a business trip abroad and asked her to try it. Her whole body turned hot and she experienced high sexual desire after using it. When she awoke, she was terrified to find herself completely naked.

Similarly, a second-year student said her boyfriend gave her a bottle of perfume while they were at a cinema. She felt excited after smelling the scent from the perfume. Her boyfriend suggested they go to a hotel and she agreed. As a result, she got pregnant but decided to have an abortion.

“It simply increases sexual desire”

Some local experts believe the major component of these aphrodisiac fragrances is alkyl nitrites (a.k.a. “poppers”) which includes amyl nitrites, butyl nitrites, and isobutyl nitrites.

Ph.D. and Dr. Nguyen Thanh Nhu, member of Asia Pacific Society for Sexual Medicine (APSSM), told Saigon & Tiep Thi Newspaper that alkyl nitrites cause feelings of excitement including sexual arousal and are found in air fresheners.

“Inhaling poppers will increase one’s heart rate and dilate the blood vessels, making the user feel warm and excited,” said Dr. Nhu.

Dr. Nhu assured that female users of these perfumes won’t be so turned on that they will want to have sex with strangers they meet on the bus, at their workplace, or in a market.

Meanwhile, Ph.D. Nguyen Quoc Tuan of Vietnam Pharmacist Association said people who inhale alkyl nitrites may experience headaches, sensations of spinning, and/or dizziness. “If men use poppers along with a treatment for erectile dysfunction like Viagra, Levitra, or Cialis, they can face health risks because the combination can cause low blood pressure, or even death,” Dr. Nhu said.

“Women are often turned on by physical stimulation so it is impossible that inhaling some perfumes can make them lose control and have sex with strangers,” Dr. Tuan concluded.

He added that some people have been hospitalized due to penile disorder after using aphrodisiac products. Tuan warned that users of aphrodisiac fragrances could become barren or suffer mental disorders.

The doctors said amyl nitrites have also been used as an antidote for cyanide poison.

jackbl

06-12-2013, 11:36 PM

Overseas Vietnamese learn Vietnamese to retain their origin
================================================== =======================
VietNamNet Bridge – Overseas Vietnamese, wherever they live in the world, have been learning Vietnamese language everyday to uphold and promote the national culture identity. However, they meet a lot of difficulties in the study.

Vietnamese need to know Vietnamese

When deciding to leave Vietnam with her family to the US, Vu Minh Hien, who now works for the World Bank in Washington DC, felt worried that her two daughters, Quynh Trang, 17, and Minh Khue, 8, may “forget” Vietnamese.

The two girls have to speak English at school when communicating with friends and teachers. The problem is that they spend more time at school than at home, which means that they speak English more than Vietnamese. This means that the two girls may forget the mother tongue.

Hien, on one hand, encouraged her daughters to communicate more with friends to improve their English and overcome cultural differences to get adapted to the new environment, on the other hand, decided that the girls have to speak Vietnamese at home.

“Our family members have to communicate with each other in Vietnamese,” Hien said. “Though my husband and the second daughter had to practice English hard on the first days in the US, they don’t forget Vietnamese.”

“No English word is permitted at home,” HIen added.

Thanh Phuong, a reporter of the Vietnam Television in Paris, France, also said she always asks the son, Armand, to speak Vietnamese with her. Phuong’s husband is French, and they communicate in French. However, Phuong always use Vietnamese in speaking with the boy.

Armand, now four years old, is a bilingual since he was born. “At first, my husband felt uncomfortable when my son and I spoke in Vietnamese and he did not understand the conversation. However, he later decided to learn Vietnamese from the son,” Phuong said.

A lot of barriers for Vietnamese learning overseas

According to Dr. Nguyen The Ky, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Committee, though there has been no large-scale survey on the Vietnamese learning in the overseas Vietnamese communities, he still can say for sure that Vietnamese have been trying to teach Vietnamese to their children and grandchildren.

However, Ky also said the Vietnamese second, third and subsequent generations now have to decide whether to learn Vietnamese and Vietnamese culture.

They need to get adapted to the living environment in the host countries to lead good lives. If they cannot speak foreign languages, they would lag behind and put difficulties for themselves.

As a result, a lot of Vietnamese would forget Vietnamese words and would not be able to speak Vietnamese in the future, even though they don’t want this.

Dr. Nguyen Thi Hoang Yen, Deputy Head of the Vietnam Education Science Institute, noted that it is now very difficult to teach Vietnamese to overseas Vietnamese due to the unfavorable environment.

She said that the documents used to teach Vietnamese are not good enough. At most of the Vietnamese centers, there are not the documents on teaching Vietnamese as second language. The Vietnamese centers and classes have been set up by the Vietnamese communities themselves, while the documents have been collected from different sources.

GD&TD

bigdude

07-12-2013, 01:18 AM

how to say I am coming on monday around 7.30pm

thks

soi15

07-12-2013, 08:41 AM

how to say I am coming on monday around 7.30pm

thks

luc thu hai khoang bay gio ba muoi phut, anh se den.

Hurricane88

07-12-2013, 08:55 AM

how to say I am coming on monday around 7.30pm

thks

use simple words...

a wa lai thu 2 toi 7.30h thoi...

mutantchicken

08-12-2013, 12:48 AM

how to say I am coming on monday around 7.30pm

thks

a se den t2 7.30 toi.a se lam tinh e sung suong..e di mua ky chuan bi ne

Hurricane88

08-12-2013, 12:56 AM

a se den t2 7.30 toi.a se lam tinh e sung suong..e di mua ky chuan bi ne

this one straight to the point...no holds bar...hehe...:p

milkyshake

08-12-2013, 02:12 AM

Bao cao su leh? No need? ?

jackbl

08-12-2013, 09:33 PM

Students for hire in Vietnamese schools
================================================== ======
VietNamNet Bridge – To earn money, some university students have been taking classes and roll calls posing and have to bear the consequences.

Advertisement on web.

People who seek out this kind of service are varied and usually are employed by post-graduate students who feel they are too busy with work or family matters to attend. Vu Thu Nga, lecturer of University of Transportation confirmed this phenomenon and went on to say classes for post-graduate and second degrees are very crowded.

Adverts such as this one: "We will send someone to attend all your classes on time. Price can be negotiated. Please call us at..." can be found easily on the web and in public places where students are to be found. Those willing to pay for such services openly display contact information. Those who take the jobs usually make around VND70,000-100,000 per class (USD3.4-4.8) in exchange for attendance and taking notes. Some ask for additional fees if they are required to take tests.

Tran Ngoc Ninh, a second year student in business management, has been in this business since he was a first year student. Ninh said he first started this business just to help out a friend in his apartment block. His friend was already working but was requested to have a second degree in law. He asked Ninh to take the roll calls when Ninh was free because he was too busy. However, seeing that Ninh had carefully taken notes, he hired Ninh at the fee of VND60,000 per class. After that, he introduced other friends that had the same problem.

"I don't have to do much. Just take the roll calls and sleep and receive the money. However, I have to ask other friends to share the workload because the customers' schedule and my schedule overlapped at times." Ninh said.

Nguyen Hong Hanh, who works in the media sector, said, "I'm busy with work during the daytime and then my kids at night, yet I still need time to study for a second degree, so I need some help. I pay VND80,000 per class and additional fees for phone calls and lunches. I only come to class to take tests."

Lured by the easy money, some students provide such services to several customers at the same time, even deciding to skip some of their own classes.

Another student, Tran Thu Ha said that she has seen her own lecturer during her customer's class. Ha was reprimanded but her customer was only temporarily banned from taking the final exam.

Those who try to hire others to take their exams often charge fees of VND1-1.5 million per subject. However, not many students are willing to accept these jobs because of the higher risks involved and the lack of certainty of whether they would pass the exams.

DTriNews/ANTD

bigdude

10-12-2013, 12:58 AM

What is the meaning of that ko ban & bn la aj?

Thks

milkyshake

10-12-2013, 02:30 AM

What is the meaning of that ko ban & bn la aj?

Thks

Maybe...

Ko ban - not friend, not you

Bn (ban?) la ai - who are you

Ban can be

Friend
You
Table

Hope I did not mislead you.

Hurricane88

10-12-2013, 09:54 AM

Maybe...
Ko ban - not friend, not you

ko ban...can be also "not busy"...:p

this interpretation means...this VB dun know who the samster is and samster is trying to date her...VB obviously dun bother about him after meeting...:p

milkyshake

10-12-2013, 02:26 PM

ko ban...can be also "not busy"...:p

Thanks for the correction. Always used ranh for free, but guess there are always more ways to say something.

MassageExpert

10-12-2013, 05:24 PM

Wow. This thread is long. Nice. :D

bigdude

10-12-2013, 08:00 PM

Thks but i blur lol.. haha

she sms me bay jio toj nho ban..

What it means?

Hurricane88

10-12-2013, 08:04 PM

Thks but i blur lol.. haha

she sms me bay jio toj nho ban..

What it means?

should be - bay gio toi nho ban

means - now I remember you

which means today she short of cash and looking for roberto...or her regulars all have other gfs today so she can be free to remember you...:)

bigdude

10-12-2013, 08:11 PM

how to say u are very cute & sweet looking, i like your smile.. haha

Hurricane88

10-12-2013, 08:37 PM

how to say u are very cute & sweet looking, i like your smile.. haha

E de thuong va dep lam. A thich e cuoi. Toi nay a muon lam tinh voi e dc ko?

bigdude

10-12-2013, 08:51 PM

E de thuong va dep lam. A thich e cuoi. Toi nay a muon lam tinh voi e dc ko?

bro hurricane

lam tinh is make love leh..?:confused:

Hurricane88

10-12-2013, 08:54 PM

bro hurricane

lam tinh is make love leh..?:confused:

wow you knew...then post here for what...anyway try to help you speed up to up her lol...hehe...dun need waste time...:)

jackbl

10-12-2013, 11:53 PM

this interpretation means...this VB dun know who the samster is and samster is trying to date her...VB obviously dun bother about him after meeting...:p

You always come out with your own interpretation.... Hahaha.... Really more and more like DepTrai now :D :p

jackbl

10-12-2013, 11:58 PM

What is the meaning of that ko ban & bn la aj?

If the person is consistent in the writing then the above can be interpret as

that ko ban= really not busy
bn la aj = friend, who are you?

that ko ban can also be interpreted as that ko(Is it true?) ban=friend. Asking you whether what you say is it true.....

Without giving the background of your conversation with the vb, it is difficult to translate 100% accurately.

KangTuo

11-12-2013, 12:02 AM

What is the meaning of that ko ban & bn la aj?

Thks

that ko (really) ban (you)
ban (you) la (are) ai (who)

bn la aj = bao nhieu (how much) la (is) aj (assjob) :p

Thks but i blur lol.. haha

she sms me bay jio toj nho ban..

What it means?

now i remember you

jackbl

11-12-2013, 12:05 AM

wow you knew...then post here for what...anyway try to help you speed up to up her lol...hehe...dun need waste time...:)

As what you have said in the HCMC thread, if you reply once there will be MORE request.... I think the newbies should try their best to use Dickionary to check the words and then ask if there are words which are ambiguous, example BAN......

KangTuo

11-12-2013, 12:08 AM

I think the newbies should try their best to use Dickionary to check the words

use DICKtionary to check out CHIMcology words :p

bigdude

11-12-2013, 01:39 AM

She say ah cao dug khog.. what it means?

jackbl

11-12-2013, 01:40 AM

Vietnamese income “average”, spending “extravagant”
================================================== ===============
VietNamNet Bridge – The current Vietnamese annual income is approximately $2,000 per person, which is 14 times higher than that of 21 years ago. However, the majority of 90 million Vietnamese people remain poor.

In 1992, the Vietnamese annual income was $140 per person. In 2013, the figure is $1,960. As such, the Vietnamese income has increased by 84 percent just over the last three years. And if compared with the last year, the people’s income per capita has increased by 27 percent.

The figures demonstrate the great achievements Vietnam has gained over the last 30 years of doi moi (renovation), which has turned Vietnam, a poor country, into a country with average income.

However, a question has been raised that if the sharp increase really reflects the increase in the income of the majority of the 90 million people.

If considering the current official dong/dollar exchange rate, the above said annual income in dollar is equal to VND41.4 million, which means the income of VND3.4 million a month.

As such, the Vietnamese annual income per capita is triple the minimum wage level applied since July 1. It is 2.4 times higher than the farmers’ income (VND1.4 million, according to the report of the Institute for Agriculture and Rural Development released at an October’s conference). However, it is just equal to 38 percent of the personal income taxation threshold (the minimum income level to be taxed)

Meanwhile, the articles on mass media show that some Vietnamese are still very rich, though the Vietnam’s economy is now in big difficulties. More and more billionaires have shown their faces.

A Vietnamese businessman, Pham Nhat Vuong, has been recognized by Forbes as one of the world’s richest people. Vietnamese billionaires, like the other billionaires in the world, have also become famous for their supercar collections and luxurious hobbies.

Vietnam reportedly has 195 super rich people who have the assets of $20 billion, according to Singapore-based Wealth-X and Swiss UBS. The assets of the minority of people make up 11.4 percent of GDP of Vietnam.

Vietnam now ranks second in the world in the increase of the number of super rich people over the last year (14.7 percent).

Some experts have pointed out that the figure $2,000 per annum is the result of the division of the GDP value to 90 million people. Meanwhile, the GDP value includes the production value created by foreign invested enterprises as well.

They believe that only the GNI index (gross national income) can truly reflect the real situation of the Vietnam’s economy. Meanwhile, according to the World Bank, there exists a big gap between the GDP and GNI figures. The gap was $7.5 billion in 2012, an increase of 16 times over 2003.

Having the “average income,” but Vietnamese have to buy goods at the highest price levels.

In 2009, a survey found out that the formula milk price in Vietnam was the highest in the world, equal to that in the US and Canada. The price has increased by 30 times just over the last three years.

The formula price in Vietnam is 23 percent higher than the Philippines, 14 percent than Malaysia, 45 percent than Indonesia and 33 percent than Thailand.

Pham Huyen